The Social Dilemma
The Social Dilemma is really broader than simply the cultural damage coming from social media platforms. It reaches into every sector of society. Government, education, commerce, entertainment, sports, and the arts. And its reach has no boundaries. Why?
Because the social reach and ultimate damage is created by us.
Human interaction is what created the social dilemma we are living in. When human interaction with machines and technology began, it wasn’t the machines and technology that became the problem. The data didn’t cause the problem. It revealed the problem. We are the problem. But, fortunately, we are also the solution.
Extraction
As NETFLIX unfolds their new documentary, The Social Dilemma, we are seeing what we have heard of for years. That humanity created its own set of problems. And all that technology did was capitalize on it. With algorithms that took advantage of our behaviors and monetized our actions for commercial gain.
Big tech calls this ‘extraction’, or, mining human behavior for profit from programming that cared more about making money than worrying about our feelings or our lifestyle.
What does that look like?
Our behavior such as what we say, who we say it to, where we go, what we buy, what we wear, what we eat, what we click on, how long we pause on what we click on, and many other patterns, gives merchants vital information for marketing and advertising. These patterns are predictive and addictive. And, as Tristan Harris, formerly with Google but now the founder of The Center for Human Technology, said, “No one is working on making tech less addictive.”
This is what extraction has mined from humanity:
Filter Dysmorphia - the desire to look like our filters
Virtual Reality - how platforms have created gradual, slight, imperceptible change in our behaviors
Surveillance Capitalism - creating monetization from our online behaviors
Disinformation - fake news, fake facts, fake stories, and fake feelings
Solutions
So what do we do about this? It really is simple. Humans must change their behavior. Because our behavior is what sets the data. When machines deduce our current mood, fears, search or browsing history, image views, and time on task, they create algorithms of predictive engagement and recommendations that shape our unconscious habits.
Because of this, we must change the equations. Here are two ways to fix The Social Dilemma:
Weekly Free Day - taking a social media fast and putting our phones and computers down. Leave it in the car, off the charger, in a closet or drawer, and don’t look at it for 24 hours. We need to retrain our brains that they do not need the endorphin high created by social platforms. Believe it or not, this is only about a decade old issue. A weekly day free of social media pressure and influence would be revolutionary to our society, its behaviors, and algorithms.
Weekly Faith Day - as important as putting the phone down, creating purpose with the phone in our hands is equally important. Creating a weekly day of social media purpose as a Christian teenager can actually bring greater discipleship, worship, and evangelism in our lives. Maybe promoting your YTH ministry every Wednesday, or sharing photos during and after a YTH event, or posting the sermon series content from the YTH ministry can hold you accountable to your faith publicly.
These are two easy steps toward changing The Social Dilemma.
Finally
If we are going to change the world for the Alpha Gen coming after Gen Z, it will take serious shifts in our spiritual lives that ultimately shapes our personal social media use. Paul said in Philippians 4.8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
If The Social Dilemma has been caused by humanity, it can be solved by humanity. This is what it will take to change the future. As humans we must change our behaviors that creates the data that sets society.