With the advent of modern technology and social media networks, communication has become much easier. However, as Sophocles, a Greek tragedian, once said: “Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse” (The Social Dilemma 00:00:17). The Social Dilemma, a documentary released in 2020 by Netflix, examines the expansion of social media behemoths and the harm they have wrought on society. It concentrates on how the customers are exploited for monetary benefit via global capitalism and data analysis, how it is designed to foster addictive behavior, how it is employed in politics and elections, how it affects mental well-being, and promotes conspiracy theories. Numerous former workers, managers, as well as other experts from leading web companies and social media networks, are interviewed for the movie and share their first-hand insights on what it is like to work for a business in the IT sector. Thus, while social media has made everything simpler, it is a curse in people’s lives, causing suicides, rigged elections, and disseminating fake news and information for personal gain.
The Reasons Tech Companies Are Powerful
Nowadays, it is simple to forget that these platforms have, in truth, produced many good deeds for the world. They were able to reconnect separated relatives and helped connect organ donors and those in need. In other words, these networks led to significant structural changes occurring worldwide. However, people choose to be blind to the other side of social media and how tech giants manipulate them to use their applications.
When it comes to why giant tech companies are becoming more powerful, it lies within luring marketing, expansion, and captivating the attention of the users. The documentary mentions that many technology businesses have three primary objectives. The engagement objective is to increase the use and keep customers browsing. The expansion objective is to keep people returning, introducing as many people as possible and encouraging them to do the same. Then there is the marketing objective, which is to ensure that they earn as much money from marketing as possible while all of this is taking place.
Tristan Harris is a former creative expert at Google who worked at the company on the Gmail project and remembered becoming tired of talking about what the mailbox must look like and what colors would be the best choice. Tristan mentioned that he found it intriguing that nobody at Gmail was attempting to make email less addicting since even Tristan was addicted to it. In 2006, everyone who worked at Facebook had nothing but enthusiasm for Google and the things the company had created, including this helpful tool that apparently strove to make the lives of others simpler while establishing a concurrent money-making engine (The Social Dilemma). Other companies were envious of that since it appeared so flawless and sophisticated. Tim Kendall was recruited to join and determine what marketing strategy would be most suitable for the firm after Facebook had existed for around two years (The Social Dilemma). As director of monetization, he was responsible for choosing how everything should be monetized. In this sense, refining applications and marketing the software leads to more significant numbers of clients and, therefore, monetization, making the process even more potent.
Another reason that serves as an immense contribution to tech companies’ power is the retention of users’ attention. The classic saying is: “If you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product” (The Social Dilemma 00:13:17). Many people believe that Facebook and Google are merely places where they can check what their acquaintances are accomplishing and view their images. However, they are unaware that companies are battling for people’s attention. The business strategy of firms like Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube is to keep users glued to the monitor.
The experts interviewed in the documentary want people to know that every action they take online is being seen, monitored, and evaluated. They are aware of the loneliness or sadness of the client. They are aware when someone is browsing images of their former girlfriend or boyfriend. They are aware of everything, including mental illnesses, and personality types, whether the client is introverted or extroverted. As Joe Toscano mentions, something new will appear at the top of the user’s feed (The Social Dilemma). The feed will show something that will capture individual users’ attention and make them stay on the platform for an extended time. People who work in psychology fields refer to this as intermittent positive reinforcement.
The last reason for obtaining such power is recruiting more clients using other tools. If someone receives an email notifying them that an acquaintance has tagged them in a picture, they will undoubtedly click on the email to view the material (The Social Dilemma). Users cannot just choose to disregard it since it is a psychological trick. The question that proves this argument is why the company does not attach the image to the email since it would be more convenient for the users.
Unintended Consequences of Tech Companies’ Influence
While the sole motivation for companies is to innovate and monetize, there are numerous unintended consequences of tech companies’ influence. First, countless American citizens are entirely dependent on their technological gadgets. It is made worse because owing to technology, anyone can currently isolate themselves and live in a bubble. Fake news is evolving and endangering societies all over the world. When Twitter was founded more than 12 years ago, none of this was in the forecast for the managers (The Social Dilemma). However, many controversial theories have become more popular nowadays, deluding users with theories like flat-earth.
Furthermore, it is often claimed that social media contributes to a child’s depression. Young patients started to seek more plastic surgery to make them look more like filtered photos. Teenagers are becoming so used to cosmetic operations that doctors have named a new syndrome for it, Snapchat dysmorphia. As one parent of the child who could not stop using her phone said: “What was I supposed to do? I mean, every other kid in her class had one” (The Social Dilemma 00:04:48). The girl in the given case was only eleven years old. In this sense, social media influences the mental well-being of adolescents and children due to constantly viewing distorted pictures of their idols or themselves when applying filters. As Edward Tufte said: “There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’: illegal drugs and software” (The Social Dilemma 00:30:50). Tech companies strive to make people addicted to their platforms at the expense of their naivety.
Hence, even though social media has made life simpler, it is also the bane of people’s existence, contributing to suicides, manipulating elections, and spreading false information for selfish reasons. The appeal of marketing, expansion, and capturing customers’ attention is why big digital businesses are growing more powerful. Consequently, while firms’ only goals are to create and make money, there are many unexpected repercussions of digital companies’ impact, including isolation, the spread of fake material, and the deterioration of consumers’ health.
Work Cited
The Social Dilemma. Directed by Jeff Orlowski, performances by Kara Hayward, Tristan Harris, Barbara Gehring, Vincent Kartheiser, Catalina Garayoa, Skyler Gisondo, and Sophia Hammons, Netflix, 2020.