The Social Dilemma

Reflect on the ideas presented in the film and then answer the following:
• How would you define the problem?

• Film subject Tristan Harris says, “If something is a tool, it
genuinely is just sitting there, waiting patiently [to be used].
If something is not a tool, it’s demanding things from you, it’s
seducing you, it’s manipulating you. It wants things from you.”
Do you think social media is a tool for you? How might you make
it one?

• Who do you think is responsible for solving “the social dilemma”?
What should they do? Is there anything you can do?

             I myself have been on a long journey with social platforms, and believe wholeheartedly that I am  negatively controlled in many aspects of my life by these platforms. I find no joy in using Instagram any longer, so I have given up using it as a platform for my work. Community standards imposed by ai and algorithms have drained every sense of joy from it. No longer can new viewers see and engage with my photography. If I were to continue using it, I would have to adjust my behavior and the way I create artwork, so that I can receive my likes, views, and dopamine. Sometimes it’s been difficult to cut myself away from mass social media, and other times it was a no brainer. Having ADHD and PTSD, and being susceptible to habitual and addictive behavior patterns, cycles of codependency and obsessions, social media is a monster that I have had to stay on top of.

             I was very active on Myspace, Geocities, Hot Or Not, LiveJournal, Friendster, and I had made so many friends over ICQ, Yahoo, AOL and AIM, and other chatroom sites. One of my best friends ever is a woman I met online, and have been friends with since 2004 – I flew out to meet her and her family in 2018, and have since flown out to see her a few more times. When Facebook came around in 2006 I was invited by friends who were in college, back then you had to be a student or be invited. At first I didn’t think much of it, but as the site evolved and changed, adjusted to the customer demand, it began to engage me more and I fell into it completely. In 2006 Twitter came out and I never really got hooked by it; I hate the limit on characters in Twitter and have always said “You can’t say anything worth my interest on Twitter.” I made my Twitter account in 2008, I have used it to post my photos and to push pop celebrities buttons, but it just doesn’t resonate with how I express myself through my art, and so I have never put any real effort into it.

             I remember how powerful the Kony 2012 movement online and on Facebook was. Using the internet to bring mass notoriety to a criminal, Joseph Kony, and get the worlds eyes on the trafficking of children under his power. Within days 100s of millions of impressions were gathered around the web. Senators and children now knew the name Kony. But long last effects were nil and the trend, like the Ice Bucket Challenge, it faded into obscurity as quickly as it emerged. This was hugely telling to me. The internet was starting to be used completely mainstream and people were buying into what was being delivered in a scary way. Would people start believing The Onion articles as fact? The idea of dis and misinformation, along with the power of memes, warned to us by Carl Sagan and Hideo Kojima, was growing into a huge threat.

             In 2015 I created my main Instagram account and the platform clicked with me. It was a place to show off the weird little moments I liked to photographs, or connect with the bands and artists I like. But when “community standards” rules started to take precedence, and the business model of Instagram became it’s priority over being a social network, I began to become resentful to how it was controlling my creativity. I started my photography Insta and began using it’s advertising tools to push my photos out and engage more to receive more impressions. And for a while this was really gratifying. I made some friends who really love my photography from around the planet, I had one woman fly out to meet me and hang out, and I have connected with many photographers around the world. In 2020 when Covid came on full force, and the Black Lives Matter protests were rocking cities across the nation, I took the opportunity to begin documenting more. I quit USPS and focused on my work. I felt great meaning, purpose, and satisfaction, but then Instagram announced it was ceasing #hashtag activity to curb mis and disinformation, completely killing off all engagement in photographs that were powerfully expressing the anger and resentment of racial injustice and police brutality protestors across the country. The movement became stymied by Metas hands as well as community censorship. My main Instagram was finally suspended permanently only a few months ago after I posted photos of my airsoft gear, and was hit with “community standards” rule breaking. I have stopped using Instagram for a couple months now and I have been engaging with my friends directly more often, sending them links to my art or directly sending them my photographs. This has proven much more satisfying for me as an artist.

             When more and more apps started using ‘like’ and ‘heart’ features in the late 2010s, I stopped using most of the apps. Snapchat was really fun. As someone who enjoyed webcamming, Snap was fun because I really enjoyed seeing the video messages my friends would record specifically for me. At this time I was dating a lot more, and it made keeping up with my girlfriends really fun and easy. But then it started keeping streaks for how long we remained engaging on a daily basis. After so many days, we might hang out for 4 days at a time and not text message each other, and then when the streak ended they would be upset, physically and emotionally, and it actually created instability in my relationships. So I stopped using the platform. It was causing so much stress and strife with people I just wanted to have fun with.

             I also was not happy with how much data Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok were gathering through the use of face filters. This technology was nothing new to me and I had been keeping track of technologies using these features from early on. Collecting facial data points in different lighting conditions, under different emotional states, children and adults, in compromising and candid situations, to train AI on recognizing facial patterns and gather more data than we can comprehend. AI will find uses for the data as the years go on. One company was able to teach AI to identify individuals by analyzing the vibrations and sound of their teeth grinding.

             Dating sites have changed so much in the past 20 years as well. Back before algorithms controlled everything, dating sites like Plenty Of Fish, OkCupid, and Tinder were places I could actually engage with and meet people on. I had made lot of friends, had many dates, and formed relationships with women I have met on dating platforms. But in the past few years all engagement has ceased on these platforms, more and more ai generated profiles pop up, and nobody seems to know how to engage in conversation any longer. Statistics taken from analytics from these platforms show all kinds of weird skews and trends, and solidify the loneliness epidemic that I keep hearing and reading about almost every day. AI even controls who we date and who we fall in love with.

             Even Reddit has succumb to the atrocities of corporate and tech greed. It has become extremely toxic and unsatisfying. Adding more and more social aspects, more community standards rules, and appealing to board members and investors, has created an apocalyptic wasteland of mean and problematic posts, gore, violence, and propaganda. I was banned permanently after 12 years of contributions. I browse less and less, as the platform pushes more violence and problematic politically posts to the front page. I’d rather spend my time on 4chan or Somethingawful forums where the internet of the hayday still partially resides - where anonymity is valued as much as freedom of expression.

             These algorithms and manipulative technologies are also finding their way into more and more video games and other interactive experiences. Who do I need likes and comments on my music player? Why do I need to gamble for loot boxes when I just want to hack and slash some demons? What is being improved by everything connecting through my social media? Twitch and Facebook integration is only another level of corporate greed and engineering to feed off the audience, turning our fun down time into work, and our engagement into a commodity.

             I think AI is a useful tool when used in the open public domain and when the general public is allowed to analyze and comprehend the models. But when massive trillion-dollar tech companies, governments, and police have deeper access to AI, or exclusive access to AI, then yes I worry about our future. But if we can maintain control over the AI tech space, and keep access open source, we can enhance our ability to create and connect. We can be like John Connor in Terminator 2 or we can be like his mom Sarah. John uses technology to survive, he hacks an atm to get spending cash, and he finds value in using the T-800 to help survive against the technologically advanced T-1000 who was collecting data on John and tracking him down. Or we can be utterly terrified by the rise of technology like Sarah Connor, who doesn’t trust that John can competently and responsibly make use of the T-800. People are not stupid, but the companies and corporations sure treat us like we are all little dumb and lonely children.

             I don’t know what the answer is. I have made my own website to post my writing and photography on, without having to think and worry about likes and comments. I made a forums for anyone of my friends to post on, but so far I have only posted a few things I find cool. And I have reduced my social media use to just Facebook, where I can still connect and engage in conversation with my friends, but I have disabled many of the features of FB through plugins, and I have unliked and unfollowed ever company, product, or pop celebrity, and this has reduced a lot of the clutter and ads. On Youtube I use plugins that skip sponsors and ads, I have a family premium account with a friend so I have no pushed adverts before videos. And I am always looking for analogue or less-tech ways to express myself and my art.