Like almost everyone else, American filmmaker Jeff Orlowski used to have an optimistic and enthusiastic view of social media, he tells Business Doc Europe, until his tech friends at Stanford University began to reveal its dark side…
“My goodness,” the director exclaims. “When Facebook came to Stanford University, which was the third school it went to, I was on it immediately. I loved it! All my friends used it. I had friends who I helped to get jobs there. And I used it very, very heavily, even up through the 2016 [US] election.”
However, in 2017, Orlowski noticed old colleagues from Stanford University (where he had studied anthropology) who worked in tech were beginning to speak out about its dark side. “What we were realising is that we had a handful of companies creating software that was now programming society,” he recalls of companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.
One contact came up with a phrase which chimed very strongly with him, calling the current situation with tech “a climate change of culture.” Orlowski, who had previously made such award-winning films as Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral, about the effects of climate change on the natural world, saw an immediate parallel with his earlier work. That was why he began to make his feature documentary The Social Dilemma.
Midway through making the film, the director stopped using social media altogether himself. By then, he had realised “how manipulative” the platforms were. Yes, he had withdrawal symptoms at first. “I don’t want to compare it to severe chemical addictions that are very real and have a different physiological response in the body,” he says. Nonetheless, he took careful steps to wean himself off his social media dependence. Now, he is fully detoxed. He doesn’t use the platforms and no longer has any desire to do so. “Now I look at these platforms as a toxic landscape. If you go there, you are going to be less informed about the world and you are going to see an algorithmic feed of the world.”
One of the most compelling interviewees in The Social Dilemma is Tristan Harris, a computer scientist who used to work at Google and who, it turns out, is also a brilliant magician. On camera, Harris argues convincingly that the platforms are gulling consumers and playing on their credulity in the same way that conjurors perform feats of legerdemain in front of audiences.
Harris is one of an impressive array of witnesses who came from the world of tech. As the film makes clear, the most outspoken critics of the platforms are these former engineers at companies like Twitter and Google who have seen at first hand how the companies operate.
No, Orlowski isn’t calling on individuals who watch his film to cut themselves off immediately from Facebook and Twitter. He just wants them to have an awareness of how they are being influenced by the technology. However, he does advocate a longer term re-thinking of society’s relationship with the platforms.
“This phrase has been used a bit [but] were are in an info-demic. We have technologies that are spreading misinformation at scale. We have a crisis of bad information in the world right now,” he says. “It’s something we need to fix to have a well-functioning society.”
So where does Netflix fit in the equation? The streaming giant backed Orlowski. According to statistics released by the company last month, The Social Dilemma was seen by 38 million viewers in the first two months that it was available. Netflix is just as fond of its algorithms as the social media platforms that the documentary has in its sights. However, the director argues that their model is very different to that of Facebook, Google or Twitter.
“I do look at Netflix quite a bit differently,” he reflects. “The biggest thing is the business model. The problem in my mind is this form of surveillance advertising that exists with Facebook, Google, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube etc. On Netflix, you’re still paying. You’re a subscriber. Netflix has human curation to assess what is working to share with the public. We don’t see misinformation and conspiracy theory going viral…”
During production, Orlowski and his team nicknamed their movie ‘Frankenstein.’ By that, they meant that the brilliant computer engineers and tech experts behind the new social media companies didn’t realise that they were building a monster. They had no idea that their invention would end up harming democracy and threatening teen health. Some have been reluctant to accept their responsibility toward society.
The Social Dilemma is one of the most successful films in Netflix history. That suggests audiences are open to its insights. Its insights are arguably even more relevant now than when the film premiered in Sundance last year. “I think January 6th [the storming of the Capitol] is in many ways what the misrepresentation of information online can lead to,” the director says of the Trump-inspired mob that went on the rampage in Washington at the start of the year. “We’ve seen the consequences of when an algorithm is trying to nudge you in a particular direction.”
For Orlowski, making The Social Dilemma was only the start. Several months after its launch, he is still in the thick of the battle to get its message noticed. “We are focusing on impact with The Social Dilemma. We have a whole team dedicated to using this film. We are building our work around three main arms: around education and empowering youth, around equipping policy makers and around public pressure…maintaining this drum beat. There is still so much of the story that needs to get out there and that needs to be told.”
Understandably, Facebook and co. have not responded as warmly as critics to the doc. They’ve issued rebuttals and disclaimers.
“The problem we are identifying is an existential threat for them. We are fundamentally questioning their business model,” the director states. “There is a problem with their business model like there is a problem with the fossil fuel business model…we know that the fossil fuel companies are going to obfuscate and delay as long as they possibly can. I think the social media companies are in a similar position.”
The Social Dilemma can be viewed on Netflix.
