Tips offered by the experts in the Netflix new docudrama: The Social Dilemma

 

Photo credit: Sundance.org

The new documentary-drama hybrid, The Social Dilemma released earlier on Netflix is a trending talk among the netizens. Many people are suggesting this docudrama to their relatives, friends and followers on social media to watch it on the streaming platform and ironically, the docudrama highlights the dangers of the massively increasing influence of social media apps like Google, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc and how it all could lead to a huge disaster one day.

While the docudrama presents two views one is fictional (drama) and the other part where many the former employees of social media giants like Twitter, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Google, YouTube and Pinterest talks about how these apps use digital surveillance and data mining to control lives, even without you realizing it.  

Some of the experts are Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin (both Center for Humane Technology co-founders), Justin Rosenstein (Asana co-founder, also Facebook’s like button co-creator), Shoshana Zuboff (Harvard University professor), Tim Kendall (former Pinterest president), Rashida Richardson (AI Now director of policy research), Jaron Lanier (virtual reality pioneer) among others.

Overall, the docudrama shows us how we are becoming puppets of our mobile and how we are being constantly monitored and the more alarming point is this, that these apps are playing a major role in creating social hate, spreading fake news and isolating the youth and creating polarization among the people.

When the end credits role, the experts provides us some tips to back away from the black future. The tips are very simple and easy to back away from the grasp of these social media giant.

1. Uninstall the apps

Rosenstein adds that it is better to uninstall the apps which we no longer use or helps us in any ways, he himself has uninstalled social media apps, news apps and others.

2. Turn off notifications

Turn off notifications so you don’t constantly check your phone every time it pings with every other notifications.

3. Use browser that does not store history

Guillaume Chaslot, Former Engineer in YouTube and CEO of Intuitive AI, prefers to use Qwant instead of Google Chrome, as the former doesn’t store search history (which,when happens, allows browsers like Chrome to track you). 

4. Don’t go for recommendations, always choose

Jaron Lanier, the Founding Father of Virtual Reality Computer Scientist, suggests never go for YouTube recommendations, as not doing so allows it to take control over your preferences. Instead the decision to choose what to watch should always be on the user. As for Chrome, Chaslot added there are many extensions that help in removing recommendations.

 5. Do the extra search

Fake news is a huge concern right now so it’s better to fact check the news before forwarding it to others. As per Renee Diresta, technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory, she advises to fact-check the news, by considering the source where the news came from and always ‘do that extra Google’ when it comes to verifying the news. Especially if the particular news is supposed to push your emotional buttons, and since you got it from your feed, it probably is.

6. Avoid Clickbaits

Explaining how Clickbait websites and stories with such headlines work, Rosenstein says, “Essentially, you vote with your clicks. If you click on clickbait, you’re creating a financial incentive that perpetuates this existing system.”

7. Follow people with different opinions from you

Another way to avoid getting influenced by fake news, is to follow people on social media who has a different opinion from you. This is something Cathy O’Neil, Data Scientist, suggests, as she follows people with opinions she disagree with on Twitter, so that she can have different angles for the same news.

8. Keep kids away from social media

Nearly everyone suggested that kids and teenagers, who are of impressionable age, should be kept away from social media. In fact, they should be kept away from smartphones itself. They mention that even the top honchos of social media apps don’t let their kids use them.

9. Create massive public pressure

Bailey Richardson, part of Instagram’s early team, adds “I think one of the big failures of the technology today is the real failure of leadership.” She says people aren’t coming out and having open conversations on things that aren’t just perfect. If such conversations happens, someone could come in and build something new. Tristan adds that, at the end of the day, this machine isn’t going to turn around, until there is massive public pressure, put on the governments to take control of the situation. Justin Rosenstein says the opinions need to be voiced, even though the very same technologies that needs to be voiced against.

10. Get out of the system

Nearly all the ideas mentioned above are confined with using a smartphone, which has now been ingrained in our lives deeply. But if you find it difficult to follow any of the above tips but want to keep your life away from digital surveillance, then Lanier has a suggestion for you. He suggests you to delete all the social media apps and get it out of your system. For there is a beautiful world waiting for you outside!