In this chapter, the textbook describes the power of internet and cellular communications, and how they enable billions of people to communicate with each other.
The Social Dilemma brings light to the idea that every small action or notification on a smartphone and the apps downloaded on it are specifically designed to keep users engaged. These notifications are reminders sent to the user intentionally - not just to inform them of content they might be interested in, but to also pull their attention away from their current task to return to the app. Networked communications are what enable social media applications to connect us to our friends, the news, politicians, and almost anyone in the world around us. The internet and cellular networks have become the glue of most people’s daily interactions, holding together the pieces of an individual’s social lives. As the movie The Social Dilemma demonstrates, these networks don’t exist without being abused by their creators and users. The Social Dilemma comments on how we use popular apps such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, all seemingly for free, but the creators of these apps are collecting data based on our actions. This data is then fed to algorithms that use our networks to keep us engaged.
With the increase in spam messages shown while a user is engaged, the user can encounter spam almost as much, if not more, than the content they are looking for. According to the textbook, “by 2009 about 90 percent of all emails were spam”[1]. The book also states that the reason there is such a large volume of spam is because it is effective in providing a low-cost form of advertising. Sending messages as spam, allows different users and organizations to advertise their beliefs, products, services, and more, directly to people that have proven to be interested based on the algorithms collecting their data. Although this is invasive, it is cheap and easily accessible through online networks. As shown in The Social Dilemma, tech companies take personal information, decoded from your actions, and how you engage with content on their apps. They then can sell or deliver this data to spammers or provide a place for this data to be stolen from. Social media networks also sneakily ask for permission to release some of the user’s data. The textbook mentions how many online sign-up forms include a section written in fine print, confirming permission to release emails to marketing partners[2]. From here, spam can be sent out to millions of email addresses at once through bots that control internet networks.
The benefits of social media apps are that they allow us to do all of the things provided to the world through internet networks, including shopping, socializing, learning, gaming, and more. The movie explains that this is why we so easily trust the apps we use, as they let us do the things that we want to do. As a society, we feel that we need social media apps because they have filled so many voids or made things easier to access than they would be in real life. The Social Dilemma exposes how powerful social media is in politics. It allows users a convenient way to learn about different political beliefs and figures. However, the movie shows how dangerous it is with a surge of “fake news” and content that is biased based on your likes and dislikes. Once a social media company has identified its user’s audience, it can use algorithms to send its users down “rabbit holes” of information that can persuade them to believe specific things. All of this comes without the ability of a user to protect themselves from certain content that they don’t want to see. Even with laws such as the Child Internet Protection Act, young users can work through their network to access the content they are looking for even if it’s not appropriate. Proving that networked communications give social media the power to expose people to information and relationships that aren’t always warranted.