The Social Dilemma on Netflix
 

To those who use social media often, i.e., Facebook, Google, etc. especially those who believe they are not being influenced by whatever platform they use, may I suggest the new documentary on Netflix, titled The Social Dilemma.

It is chilling, and reinforces the fear I have expressed on this site many times. People who work, or did work in the industry reflect on a number of things.

How you are manipulated, and you swear it is impossible. They show vignettes on how one action you make will define what you will see, no matter what you say or do.

Near the end of the documentary, each is asked what the future holds if we do not wake up soon, and the one that got to me was this......after hesitation thecanswer was...."in the short term, civil war"

This was written about the doc....

"Never before in history have 50 designers made decisions that would have an impact on two billion people,” says Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google. Anna Lembke, an addiction expert at Stanford University, explains that these companies exploit the brain’s evolutionary need for interpersonal connection. And Roger McNamee, an early investor in Facebook, delivers a chilling allegation: Russia didn’t hack Facebook; it simply used the platform."

‘The Social Dilemma’ Review: Unplug and Run - The New York Times

Chilling but should be required watching for every person on the planet. If you feel this is much ado about nothing, or overblown, I say...you are wrong.

Please watch as the credits roll and those participating give suggestions.

some would say that we are already in a civil war....

sometimes ya gotta name it to claim it

The documentary might be manipulating me as well, but does sound interesting. I am skeptical of anything from the media and have to verify.

Too bad because a large percentage of us get the majority of our news from these sites. Easy to spread anything that fits your agenda and if it is done artfully it will go "viral".

May I ask how you keep track of whatever is happening in the country, world, or anything ?

The vignettes to educate us on how shows clearly that almost every keystroke tells them something. What we think is simply so innocent is not to them. "THEM" relates to those wishing to use your information to make money, but can be used to insure whatever message they want to deliver is done to insure YOU feel as if you are in control.

One of the "hints" given at the end was NEVER click on a recommended video on YOUTUBE.

Headlines today feature a group called Turning Point USA paying teens (secretly) many under age to flood social media with disinformation.

No link trying to stay in guidelines, but Washington Post has a feature as well as Business Insider

I check several sources on TV and print and focus just on the facts in the reporting not the emotion. Then I wait until enough facts are uncovered to form a conclusion.

It has been documented that the older a person gets they are more likely to believe conspiracy theories and pass them on with out checking. It’s like repeating a lie long enough you will actually believe it yourself.
Facebook in EVIL!

I certainly hope that "large percentage" is an overstatement.

We have been advised for years about this, thus not sure I understand visiting these sites to allow someone to control.....well, what you think.

And before you disbelieve, these algorithms can and do exert very strong impact on what you think.

This is an interesting read...

'If Then' Author Jill Lepore Traces The Genesis Of Data-Driven Politics : NPR

And this....imagine how many people don't get the truth on something like a pandemic...

YouTube Has More Misleading Coronavirus Videos Than We Thought | Digital Trends

An update on my post number 2.....

“Twitter and Facebook have shut down accounts on their platforms reportedly linked to a misleading social media campaign run by Turning Point Action, an offshoot of popular conservative youth activist organization Turning Point USA.”

Twitter and Facebook shut down accounts linked to Turning Point Action' misleading social media campaign - CNNPolitics

This is a political thread hidden under the cloak of Netflix

Just develop your critical thinking skills and go down the list that search engines provide you.

I have found that many Villagers seem to have some grounding in science, mathematics, engineering or some related field.

25 Of The Best Resources For Teaching Critical Thinking

Public Library of Critical Thinking Resources

So if Fox says "36% of all widgets are blue" and NBC says "28% of all widgets are blue, while 8% are turquoise" and ABC says "10% of all widgets are blue-green, while 26% are blue," and CBS says "It doesn't matter how many widgets are blue, because it's the yellow ones that are killing 85% of the population that gets exposed to them"...

How do you know what, exactly, you're supposed to conclude, and how do you know which ones are facts, and how do you know which facts even matter?

The media itself (Facebook and twitter) I don't feel have nefarious purposes in any of this. There's no conspiracy backed by Facebook to twist the minds of its members. However, their system works such that we are provided with content that we choose to prefer. So if I like reading things about puppies, the system will provide me with more puppy content to enjoy. If I prefer reading things that are pro-blue, I will be presented with more pro-blue things to read. And within that group of pro-blue things, will be anti-red things. Because pro-blue is not happy with red. They don't get along, the system knows this because the system exists to keep track of that kind of thing.

It's not any person in Facebook that says "hey let's make these people hate each other!" But rather, it's people hating each other, being provided with more ammunition to continue their hatred, because it's simply what floats their boat and the system has no emotional investment in either of them being right or wrong. It knows only that Joe likes Red and doesn't like Blue, and Sue likes Blue and doesn't like Red. It gives them what they want. That is its function.

If you don't want to be influenced by any one or other thing, then don't focus your interest on any one or other thing when you visit these media sites. If you want to very specifically avoid any one or other thing, it's very easy to do, on all of those media sites. You can put up an adblocker, AND on Facebook there's a thing called FBP, which stands for Facebook Purity. It's a very sophisticated totally independent filtering add-on, it's free, it's supported and updated regularly, and it does a great job.

The only political stuff I ever see on Facebook, is political stuff I WANT to see. And I can shut -that- stuff off with a click of the mouse, any time.

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT REAL MEDIA. Independent and objective news sources are real media. Unfortunately, those are very hard to find these days, if you can find any at all. And I am calling out both sides of the media, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc.... There is no longer any independent and objective news source. Watch them all and figure the real truth is buried somewhere in between?

I don't know what I'm doing right, but I don't get any political stuff on Facebook. Nor do I get any news. And I have unfollowed all of my friends who post too much politics, whether they're in sync with my politics or not.


I get news from friends, what to do with senior dogs, how to eat a certain way. If I get sponsored posts for things I'm interested in, I will read. But I don't get politics or news. Just puppy food and grandbabies.

I just watched the documentary on Netflix. It certainly makes you want to throw your cell phone and your computer in the garbage. Person to person communication and interaction has greatly changed since we grew up in the 50s, 60’s and 70’s. Prior to computers and cell phones people were forced to communicate with each other in person. This made longer lasting friendships and you were forced to learn conflict resolution. That’s what’s wrong with our country today millennials and people in their teens and 20s are learning things through social media such as Instagram TickTock and Facebook. Some will say that today’s young people and people in the future will be of great benefit to all this high-tech technology. While that statement is true you also completely lose touch with person-to-person interaction and the quietness of just sitting down and reading a good book.

we've cancelled netflix months ago. i prefer prime or hulu

Look at the URL and research it. Gone are the days of factual reporting. There really are impartial sources.

777

It isn't an imaginary loss of privacy. It is a very specific loss of privacy. And the user (the person who uses these social media platforms) is in control of who gets to see and use their private information. There are tools to mask your IP and tools to mask your personally identifiable information. There are tools to prevent you from ever seeing a single sponsored ad. There are tools to block anyone who offends you. There are tools to ONLY allow you to see people who you personally invited to visit your page.

But the fewer tools you use, the more privacy you give away. There's a balance, and you just need to be intelligent and patient enough to learn what that balance is. Most people are lazy, not stupid. They just can't be bothered. And then when they keep getting ads from political campaigns whining at them to donate more, or telling them that the other guy is a jerk, and how they're going to prevent the world from blowing itself up if only you would vote for their guy... they want to know what conspiracy this is.

It's a self-created conspiracy. You clicked on a political ad once. By doing that, you gave the sponsor of that ad permission to recognize your IP address. By doing THAT, you gave it permission to send MORE ads to any instance of that IP address doing anything on that social media website. Watch a video about puppies? Well the "Party for Dogs that Like Candidate Q" is going to send you THEIR puppy videos explaining why you should vote for that candidate. All because you once clicked on that candidate's website.

That's just a hypothetical, no idea if that exact example happens (because I pick and choose, with understanding and knowledge, which political things I will allow onto my facebook page). But that's the general idea of it.

You have NO privacy on the internet. Not anywhere on the internet, at all. Unless you know how to mask your IP, several layers deep, someone somewhere out there knows you're there. And it's watching you.

Learn to accept that, and you'll have no more complaints.

Be an independent thinker and check out information yourself. News is no longer that. It's all about the advertising dollars it generates when they report misleading information thus manipulating their viewers and inflating tensions. Don't believe everything you see or hear. Even salt looks like sugar.

I agree with OBB as well. As the OP I am not sure why you feel attacking me without watching the documentary, or reading my posts is the thing to do, but....

I made it clear that NO particular site is doing anything, but that their platform is being used. That platform was set up to make money, nothing else.

I made it clear that it covers all social media, not just the one you speak of.

I did not refer to, but call now to your attention, that both the House and the senate agree and understand the risk.

I never said there were no virtues in your favorite platform.

Just wish folks would read and try to understand, but that may be asking too much.

And despite the "panning" of me, I still maintain that the doc is a good one, and still maintain that we are extremely naive concerning privacy and control on this medium. My point of view is shared by those who actually set it up and who know.

Oh, and by the way...I was a long time Facebook user but deleted my account based on many things. Still maintain my contacts, but safer.

You get what you put into Facebook. I get a lot of interaction with friends and family, some political stuff, lots of ads especially from law firms, some cool stuff from various Villages' area physicians, and occasional talks with celebrities who may or may not be genuine. Lots of fake stuff out there which Facebook does now seem to be removing.

This is just a business and they use various algorithms based on what you search on Facebook. So I get blonde nurse stuff (inside joke). Even though I have dated and/or befriended women of many different ethnic backgrounds-- the blonde nurse stuff comes up as I mention that a lot of Facebook. In another area, my sister-in-law re-emerged on Facebook after being gone a year or so selling cupcakes so I will probably be seeing a lot of stuff on cupcakes soon including anyone who sells cupcakes in Central Florida.

It is very chilling, and note in the documentary how unaware people are that they are being used.

Folks think that it is clear cut when you are being steered and/or controlled but it never is. Every keystroke means something in the algorythm and whether you admit it or not, you get locked in and will see only what "they" want you to see (and again, "they" refers to anyone with the knowledge or desire).

I was struck by professionals who wrote the programs, who administer the programs, who know of what they speak explains as best can be done in English, how it works. Seamless and unidentifiable.

Those who condemn the mainstream media, yet post YouTube videos or that kind of stuff simply astound me with naivety. I am able, albeit not as easily as I could, to find accurate news with facts that are simple to validate.

"Facebook, under pressure to curb misinformation on its platform, has made amplifying credible health information a key element of its response. It has also started removing misinformation about the novel coronavirus outbreak, which it said could cause imminent harm.

The world's biggest social network said last month it removed nearly 800 QAnon conspiracy groups for posts celebrating violence, showing intent to use weapons, or attracting followers with patterns of violent behavior."

Facebook says will no longer show health groups in recommendations | Reuters
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Good move, but how do you "unlearn" false info ?

Good adult move.

Attack the messenger.....do not discuss the issue in play.

Tell us what in the link is not true, Or in your vernacular "fake"

And when you hear heads of state refer to these stories, it makes you shudder.

444

Your detractors are very naive thinking they have “tools” to control their privacy. Those “tools” are mere paper swords to hackers that can break into secure corporate data systems as has been shown many times. The hackers mine the data in Facebook and sell it to the highest bidder. Their Facebook information posts and pictures are likely sitting on a server in China.

And again, you dodge the point by ignoring it or claiming personal attack. For the record, I argued with your sources, not you personally. I will state again, it's not illegal and both sides do it. Castigating one side is tantamount to approval of the other.

Having worked in IT and specifically website design all I can say is that people have no idea how easy it is to put up misleading and misinformation on platforms like Facebook and make it look like it comes from a legitimate site. They put up a page with puppies or kids and accumulate many likes and shares and then change the content for criminal purposes down the road when they have a viral page. The cute little quizzes are to gain personal information about you. The political memes are spread by bots. Facebook was not created to be nefarious but criminals quickly learned how to exploit it.

I mostly post youtube videos of music, to remind people of what's truly important in the world.

"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast, To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak." -Wm Congreve, late 1600's

I agree with this. I use YouTube for music as well.

The defiance of supposed intelligent people to simply refuse to accept un refuted evidence by both sides of the aisle. It smacks of " I do not want to know the truth" and " I only want to hear what I want to hear"

And to be very clear.

Neither I, nor anyone, has called Facebook nefarious, but spoke to how existing platforms are used for nefarious reasons.

Not sure I understand the smart Alec remarks being doled out on here. Facts are facts. Why some take personal offense might mean they are being taken in..who knows.

It is called defending the indefensible and defending what does not need to be defended.

Also, maybe simply changing the subject.

No political posts?

Another positive move from Facebook.

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"Facebook on Thursday announced new policies that will limit the spread of groups on its social network that focus on giving users health advice, as well as groups with ties to violence.

The company will no longer show health groups in its recommendations, saying a blog post that “it’s crucial that people get their health information from authoritative sources.” In the past, closed groups have been used by Facebook users to spread misinformation about vaccines and Covid-19. "


Facebook cracking down on groups that give health advice

Now YouTube might be wakening....

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"YouTube's video recommendation system has been repeatedly accused by critics of sending people down rabbit holes of disinformation and extremism. Now Mozilla, the nonprofit that makes the Firefox web browser, wants YouTube's users to help it research how the platform's controversial algorithms work.

Mozilla on Thursday announced a project that asks people to download a software tool that gives Mozilla's researchers information on what video recommendations people are receiving on the Google-owned service. "

YouTube's recommendation system is criticized as harmful. Mozilla wants to research it - CNET

Mozilla is one of the world's greatest resources for the technical aspects of accessing the WWW via browsers. I have the SeaMonkey suite on my desktop. They track my movements when I use it for the same reason. Normally they don't do that but I voluntarily participate in their beta testing and bug fixing process.