So there’s a movie on Netflix about how technology, and particularly the algorithms behind social media, affect our lives. You can go watch it or not watch it, and I’ll sum it up for you in a sentence: being addicted to and manipulated by technology is bad! There you go. I just saved you an hour and a half that you can spend not staring at a screen.
I mostly enjoyed my viewing experience. The movie is nicely shot and includes lots of interesting interviews with ex-tech insiders who designed many of the platforms you probably use today. They sit center-camera and bemoan the fact that the algorithms they innocently wrote for powerful money-motivated companies are now being used to make money and maintain systems of power… Oh, I suppose I’m being a little too cynical, aren’t I?
I’m calling the presentation a movie, though it probably falls into the documentary genre for many. The problem with the Social Dilemma is it “leaks” out of the documentary format and then uses a few practices that could verge on unethical in its presentation. I’m mostly speaking about a fictional through-line that the movie uses to illustrate its points. While the story they’ve invented about a modern family certainly looks familiar, laying subjective story-telling against objective data without labeling one from the other gets a little murky.
I especially took issue with their decision to lay footage of a fictional, dramatized protest against real video of protestors and cut repeatedly between the two. I studied film and communication in university, a program that included multiple masters-level classes on documentary. All documentary is story-telling, and the filmmaker does a lot to communicate their own perspective to the viewer, but this particular protest sequence really stretched what I would consider to be the standard ethics of documentary filmmaking.
This isn’t to say that I don’t think this is an important message. Because you know what? You probably are addicted to and manipulated by your technology! I know I am! I also know that every study I have ever heard of on the topic of social media and modern technology proves these things. We humans have built machines that tap perfectly into our brains and suck us in.
So while I could wax philosophical about the ills of our society, I thought I would instead list a few ideas that I try to incorporate into my own life to keep the power over my life out of the algorithms’ hands.
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Build high walls around your social media
The number one suggestion in the movie to combat the problems presented was “turn off your notifications.” I wish I had that much self-control. If I have social media available on my phone, I find myself repeatedly checking it, even without notifications. So here are my walls that I use instead:No facebook on my phone
YouTube and Instagram are on a “well-being” timer and are only accessible between 12PM and 4PM
I also used a widget that hid my facebook newsfeed on my computer for quite some time – the perfect antidote to mindless scrolling. -
Turn off your phone and devices at night
I make it a point to power off all of my devices at night and put them in my office. A phone next to my bed or a laptop laying in the living room are just too tempting as I get my day started. My phone has a second well-being mode that turns my phone gray scale and hides notifications after 9PM, but again, the siren song will sound and I find myself online unless it is turned off and in another room. I try not to turn on my devices until I am ready to start my workday. -
Don’t click on click-bait
I have to admit, this is hard for me, because I always want to know “What he found out after he proposed,” or whatever other stupid cliff-hanger they try to suck me in with. My little secret is to look at the name included in the first few lines of text in the ad and just do a search. Instead of reading the article through forty ad-laden slides I usually find a cute little story in a local paper with a far less sensational take. -
Research what you see online, especially on social media
Before you take every word of an article as gospel, look into the entity that posted the article. If something sensational does not have a clearly stated source, do not believe it or re-post it. It has not been substantiated. -
Think before you post
I don’t post a whole lot on social media, and this is why: when I started asking myself the question, “Why am I posting this?” I realized my most common reason was so that people would think I am smart or cool. A shorter way to restate that is “pride.” You may have different motives for sharing online, but if you think them through before posting you may find that you do it less, or at least more discerningly. -
Kids and social media don’t mix
I tried to include this in the point above, but it’s such a big issue I think it needs its own bullet point. A big decision my husband and I have made is to avoid sharing about our kid(s) on social media. We made a firm decision not to share her legal name or exact birthdate, and we try to limit the number of pictures we post of her online. This might be hypocritical, because I love getting to see pictures of my friends’ kids on social media, but it’s hard to think of a better thing to offer my children than a clean slate on the internet. We have private messaging threads on encrypted applications to keep the grandparents happy, and we plan to keep up the effort. That includes not allowing our kids to sign on to social media until we are confident that their brains and emotional intelligence are sufficiently developed, and I have a feeling that won’t be until late high school. We also plan to be pretty locked-down with our devices so our kids learn to engage with analog play. I’ve already noticed how hard it is to model digital un-tetheredness to my daughter, but it’s a habit I want to keep developing so I don’t train her by my behavior.
None of these comments are meant to be a criticism if you don’t enact the same practices. I have strong boundaries because I know by experience that my self-control is not sufficient. I will check back on my posts over and over again to see if I’m getting more likes. I will get lost in newsfeeds for hours. I will get all riled up by something that may or may not be true.
There’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I think there’s just as good a chance that things are getting better as there is that things are getting worse. I think I can make those chances even better if I take a deep breath and a phone-free walk, removing myself from the dilemma.