Who are the film’s experts? There is Tristan Harris (co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology), Justin Rosenstein (co-created of the Facebook “Like” button), Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff, former Pinterest president Tim Kendal, AI Now policy director Rashida Richardson and many more. They all have one message in common. They thought they were creating something good, and the monster they unleashed turned into something we can no longer control.
Orlowski also illustrates the film’s points with a fictional family, including actors Skyler Gisondo, Kara Hayward, and Barbara Gehring. The “family” shows us just how addicted we are to our devices. There’s also a futuristic “lab,” illustrating how A.I. (Vincent Kartheiser) works within the context of social media. The dramatizations are good but do straddle the “eye roll” line a little.
“…every active user of social media needs to watch The Social Dilemma.”
I haven’t even gotten into how social media can ruin our lives with a single post or tweet (see Rush to Judgment).
The best discussion comes at the end. What can we do about this? Has Pandora’s box already been opened, and we’re now at the mercy of an uncontrolled technological monster? The Social Dilemma offers some interesting things we can do to tame the beast. The question is whether enough of us are willing to do what is necessary to bring sanity back to the system.
Honestly, every active user of social media needs to watch The Social Dilemma. We have to understand how these platforms influence our everyday lives and how our mental and emotional health is dependent on our social presence. Watch the documentary!
And check out our interview with director Jeff Orlowski on Film Threat’s YouTube channel or on the Podcast.
"…has Pandora’s box already been opened, and we’re now at the mercy of an uncontrolled technological monster?"
