The Social Dilemma

— A timely documentary on the impact of social media on society, carefully taking viewers down the rabbit hole from happier times when we interacted with people of various viewpoints and major corporations peddled physical products. Fast forward to today, when there’s a new business plan where profitable companies like Google and Facetime are selling their customers’ minds and actions instead of a physical product, carefully shaping what each of us sees to keep us involved with our screens and feeding us messages that subtlety shift our views. Along the way, we stop listening to people who think differently than we do, and we start believing a personal truth instead of a truth shared by society. The film argues that it’s essential we take back truth if we’re ever to mend society, and that we insist tech companies’ business plans be adjusted for the survival of society. The film is interesting in that it tackles the discussion in two ways. People who held prominent positions in various tech companies and believed in what they were doing speak out in a series of interviews, now questioning the direction in which companies have moved and seeing an ethical and social dilemma. Interspersed with these interviews is a storyline about a family affected by social media “addiction,” bringing the problem to a more personal level. The family drama is a little hokey but possibly effective. The interviews are fascinating. The problem seems to be that the film wants to increase our awareness, but the solutions are still in the haze. I’d recommend it, particularly for people who seem themselves as living on the right side in a polarized world. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2020. 94 minutes. Directed by Jeff Orlowski. With Tristan Harris, Skyler Gisondo, Kara Hayward, Joe Toscano, Justin Rosenstein, Tim Kendall, and Vincent Kartheiser.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-social-dilemma-movie-review-2020