The Social Dilemma-Netflix
So yesterday I watched The Social Dilemma (Director Jeff Orlowski, 2020) and it's raised a lot of questions, a fair amount of concerns and the odd 'mind blown' moment.
As I'm slowly but surely making my way through our module handbook I find myself at the Web 2.0 section discussing the ethical practises behind social media. Now I myself am an avid user of social media with an account on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok (I deleted Snapchat yesterday after finishing the programme-one small step for mankind, one giant leap for Laura👏) I use Twitter and Instagram on a professional level to showcase my skills and network with like-minded people. For this purpose it serves a great deal of good, without it I would not be connected to anywhere near the amount of industry professionals that I am connected to. I would not be able to share my craft and promote myself as a brand quite as accessibly as I can with these platforms. HOWEVER on a personal basis for which I have Facebook, another Instagram and TikTok I have started to question what is the good in it?
Whilst watching 'The Social Dilemma' yesterday I had a constant argument in my mind of 'yeah BUT I want to talk to my friends and be available if they need to contact me.' What very quickly came to light was this is because social media is a drug that I am addicted to, because I don't NEED to be readily available to talk to anyone. I deserve downtime too.
“There are only two industries that refer to their customers as 'users': illegal drugs and software. " — Edward Tufte
What worried me most was the complete unawareness that we all have that we are being manipulated. That we have to control over what we see on our feeds but instead some super smart computer knows every detail about me, more than I know myself and is USING this information to subconsciously make me stay scrolling for as long as possible. THEN they use this information and sell it to companies for advertising money-heard of tailored ads? well there you go. SCARY!
I could talk about this for hours but honestly I should finish with saying if you haven't yet watched it, I URGE you to get on it ASAP. You'll be horrifically surprised!
Diary of a Performer xx
I 100% agree with what you say in you post! I found that without Facebook and instagram I wouldn't have gotten where I did with my performing career. However I do find that I look at my phone and focus on other people's life when I have a free 5min when really i should be using that time to better and focus on myself. I have also taken on your advice and deleted apps I rarely use (tiktok and snapchat). Small steps!
ReplyDeleteHannah x
Hey,
ReplyDeleteNice post :)
Well done for taking the small step to delete snap chat! I think most of us use social media as a way to promote ourselves as performers so it’s really hard to get rid of it all together and there’s a fine line to selling ourselves as performers and then letting it interrupt our reality.
One thing that I have found helped was to stop all notifications. I can look at it when I want to. I feel more free to people dictating when I should pick up my phone.
One thing I found that they didn’t touch on was how it’s made a new society norm that a lot of us have turned into narcissists who sell themselves in a sexual way... I feel like a prude saying this but it’s hard to see teenagers constantly posting semi naked selfies for the world just because the “big influencers” are doing it... does anyone agree ? 😅
Also how it’s made an impact on salaries and jobs from the amount of followers we have... is this right? Are better people being overlooked?
I completely agree, but on the one hand should we not be celebrating body positivity and self confidence in young people? We'll never know the intentions behind the post whether it be 'I'm proud of how I look and want people to see' or whether it's 'I'm posting this for the gratification of other people to prove that how I look is good enough?'
DeleteI had (for the first time ever!) an audition the other day where they asked for my instagram handle, which really shocked me because why should my worth be decided by a social media platform, especially when i'm stood here in the room with you?
I don't think it should be considered normal at all and talking about it is a good start.
I watched this too and have blogged on it! It was such an eye opener to me! I self confess that I am addicted to social media too. I always have my phone on me as my fiancé is currently in Brazil and I find myself scrolling away and then twenty minutes has just gone! Its also ironic that we are discussing this over a social platform too! I can certainly see the benefits and instagram has been a real saviour for me during this pandemic with allowing me to take class and feel connected ...But I hated that everything is click bait nowadays and if I search something It will keep popping up as advertisements for ages! I have certainly tried to detox a little and stay off my apps since watching the social dilemma!
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