It never fails. As soon as I get comfortable with something, the rules change. In this case, it would be more accurate to say that my perspective – not the rules – changed.
Back in the day, I clearly remember when I said I wanted no part of social media (SM). And then, after thinking about it for, oh, about two years (no joke), I relented and opened a Facebook account and later one on Twitter.
I became an active participant and proponent of Facebook. I began refuting the negative comments from non-user relatives and friends who said things like, “People put all of their personal business online. I want no part of that.”
My response was often, “It is up to you how much information you chose to share. Smart people don’t reveal any more on FB than they would disclose to a friend, relative, or neighbor, in person or on the phone. You have to know your boundaries. ”
Then, the nay-sayers would come back with, “It’s dangerous. You meet all kinds of shady people online.” Umm. So, don’t you meet creepy crawlers elsewhere, even in church?
SM has its drawbacks, but I know that some people would agree that it has brought people closer. It has even facilitated the search for estranged persons seeking to locate a long-lost friend or relative. And, wherein before, some of us only occasionally saw each other – usually at some sad event like a funeral, now, we share photos and videos of birthday parties, weddings, and cook-outs. We even get to see children and grandchildren growing up. And since COVID and its variants cause many of us to have second thoughts about mingling with large numbers of people, our social media pages are a welcome respite and safer alternative to group participation. SM is also an excellent venue for promoting our entrepreneur businesses and other endeavors. That’s my usual spiel, or it used to be.
HOWEVER, after recently watching the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma,” my endorsement of social media has come to an abrupt pause. It was as if a bright yellow, black-lettered YIELD sign dropped in front of me. My first thought was to close all of my online accounts, but then I regrouped. (I admit sometimes I tend to be impulsive.)
But WOW! The documentary narrated by several tech experts, former employees of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, is a definite eyeopener. If I had any idea that the ex-social media employees who produced the program were a bunch of disgruntled former workers, I soon put that thought to bed. So instead, I give kudos to those socially conscious whizzes who left their jobs in the tech world because they could not in good conscience continue to support what they saw as the manipulation and control of the masses by some rich folks with $$$ signs in the crosshair.
As one techie expressed in the film, social media is a drug and the account holders are addicted.
It is downright scary to hear the narrators explain the effect SM has on us all, especially young adults and children. Using a teenaged boy as a prototype, the film shows that some of us are so addicted that we don’t know what to do with ourselves when we are denied access to our SM accounts.
Meanwhile, we are given a disturbing look at some folks who are convinced that everything they read online is true because they found it on the Internet. Fake news and unregulated messages circulate on SM like California wildfires, and brainwashing the gullible with propaganda and gossip is big business.
This film reminds unsuspecting patrons that advertisers, promoters of conspiracy theories, divisiveness, and political discord are prevalent on SM platforms. SM managers are using access and power to their advantage. Not only will this documentary make some viewers angry, but it will also blow your mind.
As Kofi Annan said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.” If this film doesn’t make you think, then you don’t have a brain.
One techie in the film said he does not allow his children to use social media at all. Another asked the profound question – “Are we being outsmarted by artificial intelligence?”
The film will not convince die-hard fans to abandon their social media sites. I might close Twitter. I seldom use it anyway, but I don’t see myself giving up FB, at least not in the immediate future. However, I will be even more cautious about what I share and what things like quizzes, polls, surveys, etc., I participate in.
Some viewers may not be affected by what they learn, while others will think what I thought after watching it – be afraid. Be very afraid.