My biggest concern after watching The Social Dilemma is how unaware I, most of my peers, and those younger than me are when it comes to our time on social media. I did not previously realize or take into consideration the fact that we are literally addicted to and feel like we need social media and our devices.
An alarming quote from the documentary that grabbed my attention was the fact that there are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’, and that is illegal drugs and software. I would even go as far to agree with Dr. Anna Lembke from the film: social media is a drug.
I feel that as we become more and more addicted, we are also becoming more and more valuable to software developers.
Social media is literally designed to nurture addiction, and it is harming young people. The rates of self-harm and suicide have gone up up to 190%. It is making us more anxious and more fragile.
To summarize, Tristan Harris said it best:
“We’re training and conditioning a whole new generation of people that when we are uncomfortable or lonely or uncertain or afraid, we have a digital pacifier for ourselves. That is kind of atrophying our own ability to deal with that.”
Media and Technology 