Occasionally I succumb to the call of pop culture. Hey, I’m a regular person who likes to seem “cool” at times, so why not partake? I’ve watched the phenomenons that were Tiger King and Fyre (shout-out to Andy). So when I heard about a new Netflix doc getting buzz for a thing I’m occasionally paid to participate in (that would be social media), I figured it was time to board the pop culture train once again.
The Social Dilemma raises discussion-worthy points. Social platforms don’t exist for the common good of keeping people connected. That’s what we may get out of them, but it’s worth thinking about how they keep their lights on. Big shocker here: they sell ad space. Their advertising methods, however, are a lot more sophisticated than run beer and truck ads during the Super Bowl. Their advantage over traditional media is user data. Like, loads of it. Advertisers use this data to tailor very potent content. They’ve created powerful algorithms to seduce us more effectively. I’ve got friends who are suckers for Instagram ads, so yeah, shit is real.
I’ve worked in marketing departments and seen behind the curtain. I know consumers are fed illusions every day. Giveaways are manipulated, unfavorable negative reviews deleted, and those ads that follow us from website to website and desktop to mobile are techniques that advertisers manipulate. Companies like Facebook tap into the human psyche in terribly intrusive ways. I don’t know anything about public policy, but there should be restrictions in place to regulate what is permissible.
Look at Joe Camel. When he debuted in 1988, teenage smokers accounted for $6 million of Camel’s cigarette sales. By 1992, those same sales had skyrocketed nearly 80 times to $476 million. R.J. Reynolds understood the value in capturing young minds with a cartoon mascot because they represented the future of their brand. It was the right thing to pressure Joe Camel out of existence by the late ’90s because he was doing damage to kids.
Similarly, we should demand social tech companies to be held to a minimum standard that serves the public good. I’m all for a free market, but it’s ok to set basic rules to prevent companies from exploiting the shit out of young, undeveloped minds. One glance at the commercials that run alongside children’s programming and their reaction to it is all the evidence you need that our kids are being targeted aggressively and it has an effect on them. Buying too many toys could put you in the poorhouse, but social media could distort your kid’s fragile ego and destroy his or her self-esteem. We should protect them from that. I don’t think I’m proposing communism here.
Documentaries like The Social Dilemma are necessary to create awareness in those who aren’t skeptical enough of the intent behind their favorite social platforms. For complementary viewing, I recommend a New York Times mini-doc that features one of the Dilemma’s participants proposing a solution that disincentivizes the opaque means our user data is taken from us and replaces it with a transparent payout system for personal data. It’s all interesting stuff that is worth thought and discussion.
After watching the Dilemma, though, my thoughts aren’t so much on the scourge of social media but the onus on society to inform itself responsibly.
Stay woke
Nobody:
Me: Here’s how I attempt to consume information, including news, which I mostly consume via social feeds.
Follow no single entity as the authority on your information. I read a mix of information from several news outlets.
- The New York Times and Washington Post are the most reputable newspapers in the country.
- The Los Angeles Times is my local newspaper, and keeps a pretty good reputation too.
- The San Francisco Chronicle represents the neighborhood I grew up in and learned most of my core values.
- BBC News and Al Jazeera America offer foreign perspectives that typically don’t have a horse in the race.
- Politico, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Vox, Vice, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, and Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast appeal to my liberal sensibilities.
- The Wall Street Journal is also on my list for balance, though most of it is hidden behind paywalls. If there are other reputable conservative outlets I should add, let me know in the comments.
Read beyond the headline. We are inundated with information and messages all day, every day. Headlines are written to grab attention. Headline writing is a big part of my job. A common trick is to overstate something in an ambiguous way so the reader says, “What? That can’t be right!” and clicks through. So please, read the whole story. Extra credit for reading cited sources too. Slant can be put on anything. Read and form your own opinion on the source information. Don’t take anything for granted. Don’t be a lazy idiot, be a well-read idiot like me.
Use common sense. Back in my day, it wasn’t cool to be friendly with dictators and a dick to the leaders of democracies. I remember a time when blue-collar heroes rose from their ranks; they weren’t born into wealth with a history of taking advantage of the system. Good, intelligent people usually side with other good, intelligent people. Not always, but if evil dictators are also on your side, it’s time to take inventory of where you’re at.
Don’t outthink yourself
Consuming media is like shopping for produce at the market. If you come across lettuce that looks rotten, don’t buy it. Similarly, don’t allow yourself to be easily swayed by wild conspiracies — apologies to all my readers who think a wide network of people are in on some big plan to control the population through vaccinations, 5G towers, and Earth’s flatness. Most of us aren’t doctors or scientists, so I defer to what the majority of those professionals tell me, not what politicians assure me “they” say (whoever “they” are).
If one doctor with a batshit belief system says we’re victim of a conspiracy — like, say, demon sperm — I’m not buying it. In fact, it tells me more about those trying to amplify the message than the looney person herself.
The first thing I do when I see news shared on social is check the source. If it’s a reputable outlet, I may have a look. If it’s a website or outlet I’ve never heard of spouting some wild Pizza-gate theory, it’s usually horseshit. Until a news outlet with fact checkers and journalists with real reputations to uphold give it validation, it’s not worth my time.
What I’m trying to say is: don’t allow yourself to be manipulated. Social is a form of advertising that is more effective than anything you’ve ever encountered before. It works like an avalanche. Once you start clicking on wild conspiracies, you’re going to be served more and more because the algorithm recognizes that you’re a sucker for misinformation.
So yes, we need to stop this from harming our children with gross misinformation and, maybe more importantly, attacks on their self-esteem. We adults also need to grow up and put some effort into curating the information we accept. There comes a point at which we can’t expect the government and for-profit companies to protect us from everything.
Empathy is important
Just because you subscribe to an unpopular opinion doesn’t make you woke. Me, I follow empathy — those who show that they can put themselves in others’ shoes, who would rather unite than divide, and who regularly demonstrate that they care about someone else’s wellbeing over their own business opportunities.
Look, obviously I’m no political scientist. I don’t have the answers. This is far more complicated than I can express. All I know is that many of our leaders lack empathy. And a lot of ugliness has been activated in seemingly decent people. We should all be able to agree on some real basic principles.
To fix these dilemmas, social or otherwise, we need to fix ourselves. It starts with each of us being good empaths who take responsibility for the information we consume.
So yeah, The Social Dilemma was a pretty decent documentary.
Now go vote.
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