The Social Dilemma

[AgronAlum]

Has anyone watched this? It really sheds light into what’s going on with people, especially the younger generations, in regards to social media and real world behavior. They touched on it lightly but the statistics behind self harm and suicide in younger people and the onset of social media is alarming. The facts around how ******** gets spread through social media is crazy.

I got sucked into Facebook in the early years but deleted it when I realized it was taking up too much of my time. I eventually moved on to Twitter and have deleted that as well. I refused to get work emails on my phone for quite awhile but now it’s almost required. IG is used for posting the work I’ve done to get more jobs and that’s it. I’m still trying to find a balance.

My oldest is eight and he will get sucked into YouTube, Xbox and anything he can on a screen. He lives half the time with me and I can see mood changes much more when he’s allowed to use them here. He is limited to 30 minutes a day unless it’s for school. He has almost unlimited time on devices at his mothers and his behavior is out of control over there.

The fact that an eight year old can talk **** about politicians because he sees so many negative attack ads on YouTube kids seems crazy to me. Or how mad they can get over nothing on an Xbox. I just don’t know how to avoid it without taking everything away completely.

 

[BCClone]

The only social media I’m on is this right here (if you consider this social media). My oldest kids, So in college and Sr in HS are mostly Snapchat and a little Instagram. FB is considered last decade to them. I will say drama amps up with it, I’ve seen it. When my youngest (13) is on some, he can be agitated.

The older you get, generally you understand what was/seemed important in your life was fairly inconsequential things actually. If we all treated ourselves like people did on Social media, very few people would have friends and crime would probably shoot through the roof.

 

[dahliaclone]

Watched it the first night it came out a few weeks ago. Scary ****.

 

[AgronAlum]

The only social media I’m on is this right here (if you consider this social media). My oldest kids, So in college and Sr in HS are mostly Snapchat and a little Instagram. FB is considered last decade to them. I will say drama amps up with it, I’ve seen it. When my youngest (13) is on some, he can be agitated.

The older you get, generally you understand what was/seemed important in your life was fairly inconsequential things actually. If we all treated ourselves like people did on Social media, very few people would have friends and crime would probably shoot through the roof.

Your second paragraph is kind of the point though. Social media has only been around for the last 10-15 years. In the early years of that, it’s nothing like it is today. Trusting younger generations to grow out of it isn’t going to happen when they are being manipulated as frequently and as long as they are. The algorithms are smarter than most people.

This documentary is packed with ex higher ups in tech companies talking about how things really work. It’s something everyone needs to watch.

 

[AgronAlum]

Watched it the first night it came out a few weeks ago. Scary ****.

It’s beyond scary. A select few people at tech companies are manipulating the lives of billions of people across the globe through their algorithms. The division between people will only get wider.

 

[chuckd4735]

It's very eye opening, but at the same time I had already known it realized most of the stuff it covered. There is a fair deal of issues this world is dealing with right now that can be attributed directly to social media.

 

[Drew0311]

I quit facebook a few months ago when I realized I was kind of addicted to it. For the first week I would grab my phone and look at it out of habit. I have less anxiety and feel way better about life. Facebook sucks. When I started it, it was just fun to catch up with old friends I had not seen in years. Then it became a place where it was people I barely knew and it was not even fun anymore. I don't do any social media now. About the only social media I will do is when someone links something to Twitter on this page and I go read what a recruit said about his visit or something.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

I quit facebook a few months ago when I realized I was kind of addicted to it. For the first week I would grab my phone and look at it out of habit. I have less anxiety and feel way better about life. Facebook sucks. When I started it, it was just fun to catch up with old friends I had not seen in years. Then it became a place where it was people I barely knew and it was not even fun anymore. I don't do any social media now. About the only social media I will do is when someone links something to Twitter on this page and I go read what a recruit said about his visit or something.

Remember when facebook was new and people used the number of friends they had as some sort of **** measuring contest?

 

[DeereClone]

I haven’t watched that yet, but access to technology and social media is one of my biggest concerns for my children as they grow up. Predators, bullying, content that’s not appropriate for them, and general “screen addiction” are all very scary. Technology is the ultimate 2 edged sword because it helps so many people (CF fundraisers for example) but is also extremely harmful when used wrong.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Remember when facebook was new and people used the number of friends they had as some sort of **** measuring contest?

They still do. How many likes did your video about transgender chastity belts get? Omg look at snapchat! Reddit karma I need so bad!

People are easily manipulated for trivial crap.

 

[madguy30]

Remember when facebook was new and people used the number of friends they had as some sort of **** measuring contest?

I've known people that still do this...but those are the types that really do create a different reality for themselves online.

When I was on FB, I deleted an acquaintance after several requests for them to stop tagging me and posting photos of me, and they really struggled with it.

Among other things I just got rid of it to avoid the issue.

 

[BCClone]

People think they can get famous or at least semi-famous and be an influencer or rich by having enough following their stuff. They forget that ones like the kardashians and such get well known by releasing sex tapes. Go find a famous person and create pron, fastest way to fame.

 

[Sousaclone]

I quit facebook a few months ago when I realized I was kind of addicted to it. For the first week I would grab my phone and look at it out of habit. I have less anxiety and feel way better about life. Facebook sucks. When I started it, it was just fun to catch up with old friends I had not seen in years. Then it became a place where it was people I barely knew and it was not even fun anymore. I don't do any social media now. About the only social media I will do is when someone links something to Twitter on this page and I go read what a recruit said about his visit or something.

I realized the same thing this spring with the COVID / BLM stuff going on. I was sitting at home and seriously freaking out about stuff. Realized that I was getting agitated because of social media (FB, Reddit/imgur, etc). Definitely cut myself off and flat out unfollowed some people that I had known years ago but had no real reason to follow now.

I do have most of my social media accounts still active but I keep them curated pretty tightly. I rarely look at FB anymore but do keep an account as a lot of small restaurants use it as a web page and a lot of mtb trails use it as an information page. I have an Instagram account that follows a bunch of content creators (I guess some of the are now technically influencers as well but they have actual day jobs) that produce meaningful, interesting content (not just pictures of themselves in their underwear).

I am glad I don't have kids and have to deal with trying to limit / control what kids can / can't see anymore (I know my sisters struggle with this a lot).

Social media is such a double edged sword. On one hand it's a great outlet for creative people (lots of funny online comic artists) and also can be an incredibly informative resource. Downside is that it's also an absolute cesspool that lets people say anything without having to actually be responsible for their words.

 

[Clonefan32]

I still have a Facebook account but I took the app off my phone. That way I have to make a concerted effort to get on, rather than mindlessly opening the app. I should just get rid of it.

I deleted Twitter when COVID started. It was just too stressful. I've been happier without it.

I also deleted work e-mails from my phone. My office is only a few blocks from my house, so I figure if I need to check an e-mail I can go in. I've been much, much happier since doing this.

My 7 year old son randomly told me the other day that he doesn't like Teresa Greenfield. I asked him why and he said "she just not for us and wants to raise our taxes". Initially I got a chuckle out of it, but then I realized how sad it is a 7 year old is picking up on this stuff. But how couldn't you, with it being everywhere.

 

[FarmClone]

Fred had it right years ago, “social media will be the end of us.”

 

[nrg4isu]

I still have a Facebook account but I took the app off my phone. That way I have to make a concerted effort to get on, rather than mindlessly opening the app. I should just get rid of it.

All of this ^.

I deleted Facebook only a few days ago. Partly because I had watched Social Dilemma, but also partly because I've found myself generally being grumpy/angry/anxious all of the time. I've been on FB since the beginning and have never taken a meaningful break from it. So far so good. I do find myself subconsciously looking for the FB app on my phone still. We'll see how long that goes on. For now anyway, I do feel like life is better.

 

[SpokaneCY]

I bailed on all that years ago when I realized that not only did I NOT like the friends I KNEW but I didn't like the fake friends I DIDN'T know.

I've made a conscious decision to be uninformed rather than poorly informed via social media...

 

[carvers4math]

I have never done any social media besides this site. My husband does so I have resorted to borrowing his Facebook to get the latest numbers from our county health department. What I see hurts my soul. The hate and lies by people you thought were ok just makes me want to stay isolated forever. He tries to put most of the people from church on his 30 day timeout so I don’t see it on his feed cause they are the worst other than his brother. He doesn’t feel right blocking his brother. It has made me lose hope for our species. Everyone whining about things being closed many months ago and now they are right back to spending 18 hours a day posting garbage on their phones. At least the dog and I have all the parks to ourselves again.

 

[4theCYcle]

Watched this a couple weeks back with my wife. Had a lot of interesting info, which not surprising.

Only reason I carry a FB account anymore is for keeping up with a select few friends and then also running a business page. If I didn't have that (where a lot of my business is generated from) then I probably wouldn't have it. I find instagram much more useful and appealing. Twitter is mainly for sports related stuff and keeping up with recruiting. I have found myself to be on social media some days more than others, but I try to recognize if it's getting bad.

Lately it's been awful with all the political ads, talk and constant noise. But, I do think it's at the discretion of the individual to hold themselves accountable and/or realize it's toxic effect and either limit time, or like someone above said, curate individuals to keep the positive energy/vibes around versus all negative content. It's just like this site, there is some real drivel and/or crap content where many can't even have differing opinions while being verbally attacked and ridiculed. I know moderators try to keep up, but even they struggle to monitor everything. Honestly, it just comes back to the individual and what a person can dictate/handle.

 

[Sigmapolis]

I only have a LinkedIn profile up (not at all active on it) and then this place, which is basically a walled garden.

I think I am coming more and more over to Kent Brockman's position on democratizing information and power --