The Social Dilemma on Netflix, which is about the problem with social media, is set in the dark underbelly of Silicon Valley and explains how once people are hooked on the internet and social media, they will crave more. It also covers how social media’s ability to control and exploit humans is the real product they offer. After watching the documentary, I totally agree with it and here’s why:

Negative impacts

Social networking platforms are such a deadly influence on society: creating a strong addiction to social media platforms, affecting people’s mental health, fueling conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate and aiding groups such as flat-earthers.

This is totally true. For example, teenagers’ mental health are greatly affected since they are so immersed in the fake world of the internet and social media. Every teenager, including myself, must know someone, a friend or classmate, that is constantly hurt by the comments they see on the internet towards them.

Also, social media can lead people to believe in incorrect information. For example, millions believed this misleading claim: more than 21,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania are dead, which according to factcheck.org is not true. The spread of this kind of misinformation is all thanks to the help of social networking platforms, thus influencing people’s opinions regarding elections. The spread of misinformation also affects people’s health – either physically or mentally, causing people not to trust vaccinations, and making people doubt the truth about climate change.

All of which when you carefully think about it, is totally ridiculous. But people still believe it. This is how powerful the internet and social media can be.

Addiction

Phone addiction is just such a common thing around the world. People are engrossed in their phones, social media, and are letting them control their lives unconsciously.

One hundred percent accurate. People are not physically interacting with one another anymore, and some may just not have the ability to have face-to-face interactions with others merely because they are so used to using social media to chat with their friends and families.

And I am just like the other 210 million people worldwide, according to ScienceDirect, that are affected by internet and social media addiction: constantly picking up phones to check whether or not there are notifications, scrolling on Instagram for nothing, watching YouTube to kill time, etc. Thus, I personally took some actions to improve myself: setting screen times and turning off notifications.

How to change

We should all take actions to help the world we love and live in. By taking action, not only can we fight against the negative effects of AI systems humans have invented, we can also change our lifestyles back to the ones we should have: physically interacting with friends and families, going outside and enjoying the sunlight and cool breeze, and simply just cherish the world we live in.

As such, we can:

• Delete social media accounts / apps
• Turn off notifications
• Do not watch whatever comes up from suggestions
• Minimize screen times

People should not let social networks dominate their lives. We should all take action to make a change, not just for ourselves, but also for the society we live in and care about. After you’ve watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix, maybe you’ll have a more profound insight about the internet and social media.