Social Dilemma

This week me and my class have been watching a Netflix documentary called Social Dilemma. This documentary follows some people who were previously involved in software/technology companies and social media companies. They ultimately ended up leaving these positions due to ethical concerns with the way the companies were handling the social media platforms and how it was negatively affecting those who were using the platforms. 

The documentary mainly talks about and focuses on how social media and phones in general are addicting, especially to younger teens. Personally, I completely agree with this documentary. As one of the younger generations who grew up with these phones and similar technology, it can definitely be detrimental to one’s happiness and can absolutely be addicting. I am even starting to see it in my younger siblings. 

For my little sister’s 7th birthday, she received a phone. It’s not an actual phone with a data plan and access to the internet or social media, but more like an IPod. It mainly just has a camera, photo album, some learning games, calculator, and pretty much just the most basic and simple things a phone can do. It doesn’t have any kind of messaging apps or App Store either. 

However, she has been introduced to my mom’s phone of course, and already knows about social media/the internet. That being said, within the first five minutes of her opening that gift she has been attached to the phone. Her birthday was over Halloween weekend, and she did not leave the house to go trick or treating without her phone. It was honestly kind of sad. Being seven is probably the best time to experience trick or treating and yet every time my little sister had the chance, she was on her little phone playing with it. 

On the flip side, I have two little cousins who are slightly older than my little sister. They are both sisters, aged 9 and 12. The 12 year old has a phone, but has very limited time set aside for it and is only to be brought with her whenever she will not be with her mom so that she has a way to contact her should anything happen. I believe the 9 year old has one as well, but her access is restricted even further aside from only taking it with her whenever she is not with her mom or family. The 9 year old had a sleepover with my little siblings during the same Halloween weekend I mentioned earlier, but since she was just with us she was not allowed to take her phone and only her iPad. Their mother has taught them the importance of being present in the moment and it has really helped with their perception of phones and the amount of time that is spent on them. These girls will actually get very upset with you if you tell them you’re going to hang out with them and then turn around and spend time on your phone while being with them. 

Seeing the difference between these two instances really brings mixed feelings about this whole topic. While yes, I believe that social media is definitely addicting and should not be for anyone who is younger than probably 15 years old, I also believe in the importance of being able to contact your child just in case something were to happen. I think having a phone is a privilege and should be treated as such, and social media needs to have a hard reset. 

I loved social media so much more when there were significantly less advertisements and notifications. It makes me more mad than anything whenever I get an unsolicited notification from an app. I remember when I first signed up for these social media sites that I had asked to only be notified by certain people. And now, I constantly get notifications about things I didn’t want to know about or things I couldn’t care less of. “Some random person I know nothing about just posted on their story!” Cool, except I didn’t have notifications on for that person. Something as simple as that makes me want to delete the app altogether. I wish someone could create a social media app that is like Instagram and Snapchat combined but without any notifications, no ads, and just simple fun. Why do we have fifteen different social media apps that all do the same thing anyway?