Marketing Management

Waqas Umar, 17U00290 Section A

Summary – The Social Dilemma Documentary

Social media is always going to be a dozen steps ahead of you, even when you think you
may have cracked the formula for social networking. The documentary basically stresses on
the fact that we all have unsubverted to a voluntary slavery online because we have made it
a need now. It basically is a mean of connection for almost every one of us. It confronts its
audience with an ugly truth and warns that the future generations are just going to born to
come in to this, addictive and isolating, thanks to the infinite scrolling.

The documentary is basically dramatized around an American family with each member
enslaved to this addiction of digital world. The family consists of a daughter, Sofia, who is
vulnerable to self-image issues and peer pressure, son Skyler, struggling with a heartbreak,
becomes a victim to radicalization via social networking sites. The family eventually is
getting farther and farther away as each one of them is busy in their own digital world.

This documentary features from former Google design ethicist to vice presidents to what
not. There comes this scene where the philosopher does this coin vanishing trick. It shows
that social media always had and will be ahead of us as they are tracking each and every
move we make, the photo we like, even the time we spent on each photo on any social
media app.

One of the most compelling things in this documentary was being told that social media is a
marketplace that trades exclusively in human futures and those markets have made trillions
of dollars, making internet companies the richest. Trading here runs on algorithms. Social
dilemma dissects them in three goals of engagement, growth and advertising. How the ads
are being sold to each consumer. In this market, we are being sold basically, said in the
document.

Most of these claims are very true, even the creators, handlers and everyone who knows
the insights of this ugly truth have admitted and have shared each of these themselves. it is
so addicting that even if you want to get it rid off it for even a day, you cant. Lets take
Facebook or Instagram as an example. There are people who have made it their need to live
I would say, without spending hours going through feeds of these sites, one thinks
something is incomplete at the end of the day.

I myself am an addict of social media sadly and spending a few hours without having access
to one might be the worst nightmare for us. Talking from the personal experience, I do
agree with most of the issues highlighted in the documentary. I have personally witnessed
that yes they do track each move or conversation of yours as a few months back I was
having a casual conversation about the new iPad, my phone was just right by my side. I was
shocked to see that when I opened Youtube app on my phone, the first I see in
recommended videos is the unboxing of that very model I was having conversation about. I
did not even search for anything related to iPad on my phone in months and this comes up
all of sudden. That’s when I did realize that yes each move of ours is being watches, just like
told in documentary.
“Never before in history have 50 designers made decisions that would have an impact on
two billion people,” says Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google. Anna Lembke, an
addiction expert at Stanford University, explains that these companies exploit the brain’s
evolutionary need for interpersonal connection. And Roger McNamee, an early investor in
Facebook, delivers a chilling allegation: Russia didn’t hack Facebook; it simply used the
platform.