The Social Dilemma Movie Analysis

Over the years, social media has transformed the way we interact and relate to others.  As a result, many believe this has created a social dilemma.  Does social media change the way we think, disrupt our democracy, and fuel the flame of discrimination? According to the 2020 Netflix film “The Social Dilemma” it is already taking effect, especially on our youth. Social Media is a threat to our mental health, democracy, and encourages discrimination. 

To figure this question out we should start by looking at how social media has altered mental health. For instance, as of 2017 there were 6,241 suicides in the age groups of 15 to 24. That is almost a 40 percent increase from 2007. To continue further, at least 5 percent of adults  have been diagnosed with depression. That is a .3 percent increase from 2000. Also bullying has played an effect on our mental health. It used to be, you go home and you're away from a bully, but now they have the ability to spread rumors about someone online. Bullies can now in a sense follow one wherever they might go. Social media may be to blame for the recession in our overall mental health.

Social media has also had a bigger impact on our democracy than it should. Big social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have hijacked the way we think, influencing us to think a certain way. They track everything one does and use that to lead them down a path of lies. Big social media platforms for the last 10 years or so have pushed a certain agenda on us users. For example, CNN or Fox News has pushed a political agenda on the American people. CNN being what more of the left wants one to believe and Fox News being more on what the right wants one to believe. This is not a good thing for our democracy. What has happened to the real honest facts then that individual decides for themselves? Social media is slowly eroding away at our democracy like running water does to stone. 

Another thing to look at is has social media made it effortless to discriminate against peoples beliefs? A big topic right now is age discrimination. There are all of these ads that are exclusivly for younger people. Is that taking away a older persons opportunity to these jobs, subscriptions, and housing opportunities. It is a question to ask yourself sometimes. All one has to do anymore is just comment something offensive, behind the screen, it takes away a lot of the accountability. Thats what has added to the more frequent discrimitory comments and articles that are posted online. For the user, the accountability is for the most part is vanished. This is possible through anonymous or fake accounts on snapchat, instagram, facebook, twitter and so many more. 

In conclusion, has social media networks been doing more harm than good?  Social Media is a threat to our mental health, democracy, and encourages discrimination. It is up to us to change these diclining statistics to make social media a place of learning and comunication, not a place of discrimination and influencing our democracy.