The Social Dilemma (Netflix Documentary)

I'll have to watch. I firmly believe social media has amplified the worst of humanity while providing trivial and rare positive outcomes. It's an addictive "drug" built for greed, social disruption, and manipulation. And I'm holding my tongue with my feedback.
 
What do you think Google's product is? What is Facebook selling?
Well, they make money off of us as users and the advertising directed towards us.

Their sites are a product they provide as a service in order to make money. We consume that service and they make money off of it.
 
What do you think Google's product is? What is Facebook selling?
Their product is data/information. They sell this information to advertisers who will spend lots of money in order to advertise/sell their products to people that they can specifically target. They expand their reach by developing new systems that draw more people in to use those systems. Google Maps for example provides information about places/business. Businesses can then advertise in maps which will draw people to those businesses. It's all very cyclical in a simple way.
 
I have not watched but I have heard from a bunch who have.. I wonder if it will have any affect or change? I doubt it, there is too much money and it is way to big..
 
May have to let this run one day while i am working but i have said for years that the internet is a good thing, but social media is the bain of current existence...well, except for THP, cause we are good people
 
May have to let this run one day while i am working but i have said for years that the internet is a good thing, but social media is the bain of current existence...well, except for THP, cause we are good people
It is the simple difference of providing information and a place for unmanipulated dialogue versus intentional and insidious efforts to group people into similar categories without their knowing it to create fertile pools for advertising. I have seen very sincere people literally become brainwashed through FB. I decided not to support it and closed my account.
 
Very informative for those not steeped in this quagmire daily.
 
I thought it was boring and information that should be common sense. I stopped watching around 16 minutes in. I also thought the little fake side show with the actors was a waste of time. Way too much time was spent trying to make it dramatic rather than just provide facts. But I guess that is how many "documentaries" are today - sensationalized.
 
Well, they make money off of us as users and the advertising directed towards us.

Their sites are a product they provide as a service in order to make money. We consume that service and they make money off of it.
Their product is us. They sell our attention to advertisers. That's what they sell. Their only goal with us is to keep our attention as long as possible.
 
Their product is data/information. They sell this information to advertisers who will spend lots of money in order to advertise/sell their products to people that they can specifically target. They expand their reach by developing new systems that draw more people in to use those systems. Google Maps for example provides information about places/business. Businesses can then advertise in maps which will draw people to those businesses. It's all very cyclical in a simple way.
They sell us. If the product is free, you are the product.
 
Just watched it over the weekend...going to rewatch with my teenage daughter....
 
You have to think that originally this idea of "customizing" the internet to the person using it was done for the good of the person. Now it just seems as though it is a way for companies to make more money by making them the top option. I liked the documentary but it just cemented my thoughts I already had.
 
Their product is us. They sell our attention to advertisers. That's what they sell. Their only goal with us is to keep our attention as long as possible.
What free website doesn't?

Internet bandwidth costs money. In order to keep it free they need advertising and sponsors to keep it running. The larger a site is and the more people use it, the more it costs to keep it running and therefore it requires more advertising.

We can talk about algorithms all we want but nobody ever reads the terms and conditions on anything. South Park made fun of that fact several years ago when everyone agreed to Apple's terms to be part of a human centiPad.

I had the documentary on this morning while I was working so I will admit I wasn't 100% focused on it but the 2 things that stuck out to me the most are:

1. fake news travels 6 times faster than real facts.
2. An algorithm doesn't know what is real or fake.

Is social media really the devil because of all the fake stuff on it or is it just a tool that amplifies and perpetuates the true thoughts, feelings and general laziness towards research for those that use it? it is much easier to believe a meme than to take the time to actually research if it is true or not. People make efforts to stop the spread of fake information are then subject to complaints from those who actually believed it for stomping on their free speech.

Where is the proper line between regulating and providing true information that can be believed and just letting people wallow in their own ignorance to believe whatever they want regardless if it is actually true or not?

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You have to think that originally this idea of "customizing" the internet to the person using it was done for the good of the person. Now it just seems as though it is a way for companies to make more money by making them the top option. I liked the documentary but it just cemented my thoughts I already had.
I don't think they meant anything nefarious unless you think making money is nefarious (I don't). The nefarious part is the unintended consequences. The unintended consequences are that people get so far into their own rabbit holes that they take several assault rifles into a pizza parlor and demand the owner to release the children out of the basement before blowing the handle off of said door and finding out it's a broom closet.
 
I saw it. Scary to say the least. I am not on social media, but I wish it was blown up. I think it is the cause of a lot of the political and cultural issues right now.
Deleting my Twitter account was probably the best move I made in 2020. It's a toxic wasteland.
 
Deleting my Twitter account was probably the best move I made in 2020. It's a toxic wasteland.
For me Facebook is even worse....but I don't do a lot of social media interacting. On twitter, I only follow...probably less than 10 people I actually know and use it more to follow updates for sports, etc. On Facebook...it makes me realize how terrible so many people are (people I thought I liked).
 
I watched it last night. Honestly, I was not surprised by anything they revealed. While I don't spend a ton of time on social media (basically only on it to try to win cool stuff...haha), I do see the targeted ads and such based on websites I have visited outside of social media. I have never once been tempted by any of them. I look at what I want to when I want to instead of falling for force fed suggestions from others. Of all of the suggested Facebook friend recommendations I have received notifications on, I maybe knew 1 or 2 of them.
 
None of those things compare even remotely in their risk ...
Demonstrably false.

Television: Two words: "Mainstream media," for starters. Television, on its own, has been as responsible as any other single thing for the dumbing of America--perhaps the world.

Firearms: Mind you: I'm pro-RKBA, but there's no denying the death and destruction resulting from their misuse.

The internal combustion engine: Accidents are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and automobile accidents are one of the three leading causes w/in that category. Then there's the pollution and social upheaval (e.g.: urban sprawl) that have been a direct result of the automobile.

Splitting the atom: This one should hardly need explanation--at least not for anybody who grew up during the Cold War. The threat remains, and, in some ways, is even greater now than it was then.

All of these things also have their positive sides. Same with the Internet. None of them have led to TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It). Neither will the Internet.

Unless we let it.

Finally: Without the Internet there'd be no WWW (World Wide Web). Without the WWW, there'd be no THP :)
 
I thought it was boring and information that should be common sense. I stopped watching around 16 minutes in. I also thought the little fake side show with the actors was a waste of time. Way too much time was spent trying to make it dramatic rather than just provide facts. But I guess that is how many "documentaries" are today - sensationalized.
It’s promoted as a docu-drama, not a pure documentary.
 
Demonstrably false.

Television: Two words: "Mainstream media," for starters. Television, on its own, has been as responsible as any other single thing for the dumbing of America--perhaps the world.

Firearms: Mind you: I'm pro-RKBA, but there's no denying the death and destruction resulting from their misuse.

The internal combustion engine: Accidents are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and automobile accidents are one of the three leading causes w/in that category. Then there's the pollution and social upheaval (e.g.: urban sprawl) that have been a direct result of the automobile.

Splitting the atom: This one should hardly need explanation--at least not for anybody who grew up during the Cold War. The threat remains, and, in some ways, is even greater now than it was then.

All of these things also have their positive sides. Same with the Internet. None of them have led to TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It). Neither will the Internet.

Unless we let it.

Finally: Without the Internet there'd be no WWW (World Wide Web). Without the WWW, there'd be no THP :)
Well, I will say that I spend much more on golf equipment now than I did before I had heard of THP, so it is a little dangerous. 😂😂😂
 
For me Facebook is even worse....but I don't do a lot of social media interacting. On twitter, I only follow...probably less than 10 people I actually know and use it more to follow updates for sports, etc. On Facebook...it makes me realize how terrible so many people are (people I thought I liked).
The final straw for me was seeing a lot of the accounts I followed turn into political debate forums, with horrible comments abound. FB is easily controlled by generously using the unfollow button, and if it leaks into Messenger, the unfriend button. However, I blame nobody for getting away from FB; I only keep it to see pics of my grandkids.
 
Good movie and when I get bored I think twice before falling into the rabbit holes of Facebook, Instagram, etc.
 
I’m about 30 minutes in and I’m thrilled to have reinforcements on why I deleted Twitter off my phone a while back. I can still access it on my computer but I’m rarely there and it isn’t nearly as mindless as phone usage.
 
Demonstrably false.

Television: Two words: "Mainstream media," for starters. Television, on its own, has been as responsible as any other single thing for the dumbing of America--perhaps the world.

Firearms: Mind you: I'm pro-RKBA, but there's no denying the death and destruction resulting from their misuse.

The internal combustion engine: Accidents are the third leading cause of death in the U.S., and automobile accidents are one of the three leading causes w/in that category. Then there's the pollution and social upheaval (e.g.: urban sprawl) that have been a direct result of the automobile.

Splitting the atom: This one should hardly need explanation--at least not for anybody who grew up during the Cold War. The threat remains, and, in some ways, is even greater now than it was then.

All of these things also have their positive sides. Same with the Internet. None of them have led to TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It). Neither will the Internet.

Unless we let it.

Finally: Without the Internet there'd be no WWW (World Wide Web). Without the WWW, there'd be no THP :)


We're only 25 years into this type of data control. You're failing to see where it's going and the reticent evil that will ensue in 100 years. Every new-born baby will have a gps chip installed in their ass. ALL persons will be accounted for and put where big brother wants them. This thing has potential for evil well beyond all of your examples. Even now, people don't have a TV with them 24/7. Each of your examples are finite....they have an end. This thing doesn't have any limit to it's intrusiveness.
 
Deleting my Twitter account was probably the best move I made in 2020. It's a toxic wasteland.
I deleted Facebook and Twitter in August. My 30 days just ended so they are both gone forever.
 
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