The Social Dilemma on Netflix

I misplaced the following thread in the Debates forum and was..."kindly" advised to "take it to the culture forum" so here it is:

Hello everyone.
I know this has been out a while, but I just watched it with 51 Generation Z teenagers. After it was over, there was quite a discussion. It remained civil, and several of the teenagers decided to completely remove all their social media accounts. Others proclaimed they will never read the "news" the same way.

For an experiment, I asked those who held strong conservative views and those who held strong liberal views to simply Google "climate change is..." Those with strong conservative views quickly came up with loads of links to support their already preconceived notions, while the ones holding strong liberal views quickly came up with totally different links to support their own views.

There are some really alarming trends in social networking with the growth and development of artificial intelligence.

If you have seen this program, please share your views.
Thanks in advance.

PS: This thread is about the program, and the ability of Big Tech to cause subtle changes in human behavior through advertising.

@Liljo

The thread could also appear at the Technology forum. It's a good show, I recommend it.

My personal advice is:

1. join only sites/forums which allow users to pay for no ads, avoid all others (or, if you must, then see item 4c below).

2. Don't use google. Use another search engine which does not track users.

3. Use ad blockers and activate the do-not-track function on all your browsers. Regularly clear out the cache and delete cookies on all your browsers.

4. Maintain multiple email accounts, a) for personal/friends/family, b) for business transactions and colleagues, and c) for registering yourself at online forums/sites and for product registration. Do not divulge anything on your c) account you would not want the government/mafia/drug cartels/Bill Gates/Jeff Bezos/NSA/KGB/MOSAD/MI5, to know about you.

5. Buy an RHP subscription.

6. Delete your WhatsApp account and then remove the app from all your devices (and do it in that order--deleting the app does not remove your account). Move to Signal or some other messaging service. Zuckerberg has persistently mis-led his users into thinking that end-to-end encryption is all he needs to keep repeating. E2e encryption is NOT the issue. No one cares what the content of your messages is. The issue is that Zuckerberg shares your META-data with multiple platforms; Zuckerberg sells with whom you communicate, not the content, to third parties, and that is why spam follows you across platforms. Signal does not share any meta-data, and offers e2e encryption.

PS:

I am not one to propagate conspiracy theories. I do not maintain that these platforms (FaceBook, Google, and so on) were invented by evil people with intent to manipulate the public consciousness. However, the manipulation of public consciousness did not 'just happen' either. As the interviewees made clear, each step along the path to where we are now seemed, at the time, to be a small and logical extension of a 'useful service' or a 'benefit' to the public (re-uniting lost relatives, establishing contact with old school buddies, etc. etc.). But where we are now is epitomized by QAnon, the storming of the bastion of the peaceful transition of power on January 6th, and the continuing debate over whether the 2020 election was 'stolen'. A sizeable portion of Republicans in America STILL do not accept that Trump lost, despite nearly a year of zero evidence that the election was fraudulent -- and this is solely because of lies and fake news propagated by Internet platforms. Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Paige, and others have created a Frankenstein monster they can no longer control. Self-policing does not work; FB and co. cannot delete bogus accounts and fake news fast enough.

I have a concrete proposal for getting them under control: apply the same rules to Internet platforms as already apply to print media: hold them legally liable for propagating slander, libel, character assassination, and lies. If The NY Times or Newsweek prints slander, libel, character assassination, or lies, their editors can be sued, fined, sent to prison, and the journal can be compelled to print a retraction/correction. This helps ensure that only peer-reviewed and fact-checked articles get into print. The same should apply to Internet platforms and forums. Including this one.

The right to freedom of speech does not include a right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater when there is no fire, and thereby trigger a stampede to the exits. Same applies to crying "Fraud! Take back our nation!" when there is no fraud and thereby trigger a stampede to the Capitol Bldg.

My two cents.

@moonbus
Thank you, Moonbus!
I appreciate your views. Peace to you!

@moonbus said
PS:

I am not one to propagate conspiracy theories. I do not maintain that these platforms (FaceBook, Google, and so on) were invented by evil people with intent to manipulate the public consciousness. However, the manipulation of public consciousness did not 'just happen' either. As the interviewees made clear, each step along the path to where we are now seemed, at the ti ...[text shortened]... nation!" when there is no fraud and thereby trigger a stampede to the Capitol Bldg.

My two cents.

Great post as usual Flash!
Because I sensed a growing and excessively intrusive nature at FB: I quit using my account in 2008 and haven't looked back. This, in spite of family and friends imploring me to reactivate.

I've, at times, been tempted...but am happily too busy to sort it. No "pseudo-buyer's remorse" for me. I have RHP!
😁😁😁