The Social Dilemma

[MondayYogurt]

I realise some may think this is a tenuous link, but has anyone watched this documentary on Netflix?
It explains how social media is changing our brains and nudging us towards extreme views - such as MRA, TRA etc.

I started watching it with DH but the ham-fisted dramatised segments were so butt-clenchingly awful, we turned it off. It was documentary-making for idiots. What the tech people had to say was interesting, but elbowed aside by all the Basil Exposition mansplaining.

That's a shame. The part where it talks about the increase in childr and teen depression and suicide is horrific.

I watched bits of it and as a result have turned off all push notifications on my phone. It is a revelation.

The level we're being manipulated is incredible. It explains the social contagion of ROGD, the spread of self harming, the revival of Nazi ideology, flat eartherism, antivaxxers, and so much of our modern extreme viewpoints.

I agree that it is too long, by about 30 minutes, but still is a must see, especially towards the end, when the effect on politics is covered.

It's very telling how many of the people involved in the development of Social Media say they won't let their children use it.

My youngest, not yet old enough to officially have social media, pleads with me every day to be allowed it as everyone else has it apparently.

I wonder how these people who work in social media cope with the non stop pleading and wonder, as I do, if they really are denying their children social interaction with their friends resulting in them to being “left out” of things in their friendship group.

I frequently feel like the only parent who sticks to the recommended ages for social media and to be honest I don’t think 13 is old enough, now I am thinking of waiting longer than that. It won’t go down well.

I would love to know exactly what people who work in social media say to their children about it.

The dramatized segments were irritating, but the interviews with the tech people and the psychologist (the guy who talked about self harm in girls) were eye opening.

The political polarisation was something I'd thought about before, but I didn't realise how starkly it had grown. The news bubbles that we live in, the creation of viewpoint tribes (e.g. you're not just a person with an opinion about Brexit, you're a "leaver" or a "remainer" and the other lot are not just wrong, they're evil).

And those stats on suicide among girls! It makes me want to cry for their generation. No wonder so many want to opt out of girlhood.

It's a difficult job breaking out of the Matrix. First you have to have to develop the sense that it's even there.

I sympathise Daisies. My children are in their 30s, so I was spared your dilemma. It must be very difficult.

I'll try and watch it over the next few days. My DS tried a WhatsApp group with children in his secondary year group He lasted 3 weeks and deleted the group because he didn't like the interaction. He's not on any other social media, although he watches YouTube videos, which we closely monitor. And I never turn on push notifications or location services or pay attention to the adverts.

www.humanetech.com/families-educators

Thank you MaMaLa321 and thank you for the link lojoko it was very interesting. Tik tok is the most consistently requested in my house and I have grave reservations about it. It was interesting to see that the article specifically recommended deleting it along with Snapchat and Instagram. I will try to find the time to sit down and watch the film!

And those stats on suicide among girls! It makes me want to cry for their generation. No wonder so many want to opt out of girlhood.

Exactly! Imagine going through puberty with the constant bombardment of sexualisation these girls experience. I was uncomfortable enough back when I did it but to have the voices of thousands of people in my head, telling me my worth as a girl was nothing unless I looked a certain way and performed a certain way - I would've taken any opt out possible, and that is what these poor, poor young women are doing.