The Social Dilemma

by Angie Liew

Have you ever wondered how huge social media companies really make money? How are they being paid? The chances are that you already know the answer: It’s advertising. But it’s not quite that simple. 

If you look at it closely, we are not paying to use the platforms; the advertisers are. No longer are we just citizens of the internet; we’re the products being sold. For the first time in history, a brand new market has emerged—the market of humans’ future. Our attention has never been more wanted, but now they’re not letting us go.

The Social Dilemma is a documentary with a series of interviews from former employees of massive social media platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, researchers, and other data science and artificial intelligence experts. This 90-minute long film reveals the harsh truth behind how social media platforms have gone from being developed as a tool to connect, to a problematic crisis leading to crippling addiction, mental health issues, radicalization, among many others. Today, I’d like to summarize the key points brought forth by those who have been part of the developing team on the other side of your screen, and the messages The Social Dilemma hopes to spread. 

Mental health awareness and advocacy in the 21st century is by no coincidence. In our generation, the very meaning of culture and communication hinges on manipulation. Almost everything we see online—the unrealistic beauty standards, relationship goals, dream lifestyles—are a unique construct built for us to believe and long for. Depression and anxiety spiked in teenagers beginning in 2011, and the growth of self-harm cases rose by 189% in preteen girls; almost triple of the numbers in the previous decade. Social media availability started in 2009—this is no coincidence. 

Have you ever noticed how conditioned we’ve become to turn to our devices every time we are uncomfortable, lonely, or afraid? We’ve become accustomed to seeking comfort in our phones, all because social media companies have spent years perfecting their algorithms. This begs the question: How do they continue to make us crave the use of their platforms, now more than ever before? To put it simply, each company has its systems that predict human behavior. They can now track everything you do; they know what you look at, where you look at it, and even how long you stare at it. While you may believe that these are just ways for the companies to help “personalize” your user experience, you might want to reconsider.

By analyzing your statistics and preferences, artificial intelligence can anticipate what you would enjoy viewing with high degrees of effectiveness. Photo after photo, video after video, it’s becoming impossible to stop. Do you ever open up your Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook just to refresh your feed every once in a while? These digital systems tap into your dopamine reward system, allowing you to feel continuously happy while you mindlessly scroll. Hours go by. This is their design.

‘Surveillance capitalism’ is a newfound term of the modern-day and age, whereby these corporations profit massively off the infinite data tracking of their users. As previously mentioned, these companies are constantly competing for your attention; they need to keep you engaged. They sell the certainty that if advertisers pay, they are guaranteed to influence the users they reach. Here’s where the big problem begins; this is where you must realize you are being sold. 

Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist known also as the founding father of virtual reality, states: “It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behavior and perception that is the product. There’s nothing else on the table that could possibly be called the product.”

These systems now know everything about you, and they can tailor exactly what to show you. They have made it difficult to obtain a shared understanding of reality. We have grown to believe that our perception of the world is the right one. We are stuffed with biased information on our social media explicitly chosen to coincide with our views, and only our views. False information is frankly more profitable: Welcome to the disinformation-for-profit business model. 

These social media companies make far more money by allowing unregulated news to be distributed at the highest bid. The laws are far behind on such advanced technology; thus, these corporations are not held responsible for events in which governments or radical groups weaponize social media to meet their agendas. Cynthia Wong, a former senior internet researcher, describes a prominent example of this: The Rohingya Muslim genocide in Myanmar was massively caused by manipulative propaganda that Facebook allowed to spread. This has led to mass killings, rape, and forced over 700,000 refugees to flee the country. 

As more advertisers realize that they have the power to affect real-life behaviors and emotions while keeping users unaware, we move farther away from a “tool-based technology environment” and into one of deception. Behind the scenes, social media companies have enhanced systems so advanced that they have outgrown human control. We, as a society, are no longer able to agree on what is the truth anymore. This is a checkmate on humanity. 

We only have one chance to prevent this situation from descending society into chaos. These companies have no reason to change their ways unless we force them to. We need to fight for legally binding regulations to protect your digital privacy because if we do not, there will be nothing stopping these multinational corporations from essentially controlling every aspect of society. They will allow you to be manipulated and sold to whoever can pay for it. What we have now is not set in stone: We can, and have to, change before we as a society become incapable of healing.

I would like to end with a quote by Edward Tufte, a Yale University Professor and statistician. 

“There are only two industries that call their customers ‘users’. 
Illegal drugs and software.”