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The Social Dilemma

CloudNull

Banned
I am watching this currently on Netflix. I assumed this information was common knowledge for most people but the people I am watching it with are blown away. What is your opinion Gaf? Anyone watched this? Did you learn anything new?

 

CloudNull

Banned
Just finished this. It’s fantastic and has got my wife to quit social media.

Question for gaf. We’re looking to migrate photos to a image hosting site. What is the best and most secure hosting site that is not google or Amazon?
 

eddie4

Genuinely Generous
Just finished this. It’s fantastic and has got my wife to quit social media.

Question for gaf. We’re looking to migrate photos to a image hosting site. What is the best and most secure hosting site that is not google or Amazon?

Are you going to be sharing these photos or is it for private use?
 

SKM1

Member
I remember when I deactivated my facebook account. At the time I had this very strong feeling that my life would become somewhat empty without it but after a month it went completely away and my perception of reality was reconfigured (for the better obviously).

Social media is really rots our brains. Nowadays when I see facebook it's easy to note that it is complete shit.

I keep instagram as a meme feed though.
 

Kev Kev

Member
but then there's my mom, who just posts a recipe now and then, and comments or hearts some photos of family. maybe i'm missing something, but that seems like pretty harmless stuff, no?

i'll check out the doc, but i'm not sure about this whole social media is the devil and he's out to get us hype. some people just get on there to connect with family and post something they think is funny or cute. that's it
 

CloudNull

Banned
but then there's my mom, who just posts a recipe now and then, and comments or hearts some photos of family. maybe i'm missing something, but that seems like pretty harmless stuff, no?

i'll check out the doc, but i'm not sure about this whole social media is the devil and he's out to get us hype. some people just get on there to connect with family and post something they think is funny or cute. that's it
It talks about how social media is designed to hack our Biological systems. It has interviews with some of the many pioneers that built social media platforms. It’s also pretty unbiased. Doesn’t real push a narrative.
 

Chittagong

Gold Member
People really need to watch this. Ex-Google, Twitter, Pinterest key people explain how the addiction machine was developed, and how the algorithm is now out of control, optimising for views at all costs, elevating stuff that gets lapsed users re-engage, with real world effects.

Wonder where those BLM riots suddenly came from, after the Nth black person was killed by the police? Why him? Why now?

Well...

1 - Everybody is locked down from March
2 - People post a lot less updates, photos, tag people into fewer things as they just sit home
3 - Engagement rates plummet
4 - Algorithm needs to massively signal boost content that is known engaging by ML
5 - The death of George Floyd is massively signal boosted
6 - BLM gets strong engagement rates (for, against, like, dislike, share, comment, post...)
7 - Corporates latch onto BLM metrics
8 - Further escalation, more shares
9 - Profit
 
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eddie4

Genuinely Generous
Private use. More for something that is secure and not supporting google or amazon.
I would check out Lychee. You have to self-host it, but it's the most secure way. Or if you don't want to use the gallery feature, etc. Just set up a private cloud, this could be at home, or in a VPS.
I have a self-hosted chat, cloud, streaming server, and csgo server. It's so much easier when everything is in your control, and not just out there.
 
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CloudNull

Banned
I would check out Lychee. You have to self-host it, but it's the most secure way. Or if you don't want to use the gallery feature, etc. Just set up a private cloud, this could be at home, or in a VPS.
I have a self-hosted chat, cloud, streaming server, and csgo server. It's so much easier when everything is in your control, and not just out there.
Looking into it now. I am looking to start hosting everything myself and get away from the cloud. Currently starting to build out my NAS.

Watched it, then watched it again with my 11-yr-old daughter. Essential viewing, really. 👍

I agree. Everyone needs to watch this especially people who have known social media there whole life.
 

Pejo

Member
This was really eye opening. One of the best flowing documentaries I've seen in a long time too. Those skits weren't even terrible between segments.
I wish there was a way to make everyone watch this before they bought a cell phone, it could really open some eyes. I'm trying to get my gf to watch it, but she's been resistant so far.
 

Kev Kev

Member
i feel a lot of different ways about it. there's a shit load to discuss here but i'll keep it relatively short...

i liked the doc for the most part, but it felt a bit too gloom and doom for me to 100% buy in. it felt like the dudes making this doc were telling me about all the shit the internet does to manipulate us, while the doc uses similar tactics... for example: scary music (through almost the entire doc, seriously listen to how unsettling that music is, anyone would feel scared or uncomfortable with that sound track playing behind every scene), some really bizarre narrative that was tailored to make all kids look like social media crack heads willing to literally break shit with hammers if they don't have their phone in their face every minute of the day (the girl breaking the box open was hilarious, most kids are never going to go that far, and at the dinner table? in front of the whole family? and what the hell kind of parenting have you done that created this psycho kid, lol come on now...), pretty graphics, well timed editing to play with our emotions and keep are heart rates going up and down at just the right rate (i'm sure they sat around and talked and edited and improved for hundreds of hours, trying to find that exact right combo to keep us effectively engaged, giving us just the right timing for hits of dopamine, just like social media), and just in general they doc felt very manipulative without going nearly enough into how beneficial the internet has been and almost completely avoiding the idea that people need to hold themselves accountable for their own actions.

in general the doc just felt like it was designed to get as many views as possible on netflix, with its scary music, narrative and predictions of imminent civil war. the main guy just felt like a fucking salesman to me... i dunno, i was really put off by some of it, and just, the whole thing felt... not so genuine.

that being said, on the flip side, by the end of the doc i was pretty on board with the message (mostly), and i definitely recommend people watch it, but take it with a grain of salt. this thing is designed to scare the absolute fuck out of you, so you tell everyone you know and they go home and watch it and do the same, and the people who made this make a whole bunch of money off of our fears. we are all profiteers and we are all looking for our own next big break so we can pump the system and make millions. every single one of us are trying to do that, including the people who made this doc and that red haired mother fucker who put his face was on screen more than anyone or anything else in that video.

use your own brains, hold yourself accountable for your actions and in general, don't be a fucking sheep. i agree some of us need to put the phones down, and the doc makes a lot of great points but it's not the answer to all of our problems right now, and it comes off as sounding like it thinks the internet and social media is the root of ALL of our problems right now. and i just don't buy that.

but it has a lot of really great stuff in there too, so i 100% reccomend checking it out , but don't let it indoctrinate you the same way it's claiming these corporations and companies have indoctrinated us.

i dunno maybe i'm way off here. i've only heard positive things about this, but i had a slightly different experience and just had to share my mind. please don't attack for having a different opinion lol. it's all just opinions and food for thought, and i think there's a lot of good things to discuss here.
 
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Moomalade74

Banned
I thought this was a pretty good documentary. The mad men guy scenes were overcooked and long winded to me, but I can see why they needed to flesh out the point to reach the most people with the message. I didn't appreciate the allusion to Russia hacking the election through facebook ads, (any critical look at that shows how absurd it is), nor the idea of the division and strife occuring in other countries, whilst not mentioning the US and BLM.

TruthstreamMedia covered this topic a couple of years ago, it was a very sobering and empathetic piece.

 
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Kev Kev

Member
I thought this was a pretty good documentary. The mad men guy scenes were overcooked and long winded to me, but I can see why they needed to flesh out the point to reach the most people with the message. I didn't appreciate the allusion to Russia hacking the election through facebook ads, (any critical look at that shows how absurd it is), nor the idea of the division and strife occuring in other countries, whilst not mentioning the US and BLM.

TruthstreamMedia covered this topic a couple of years ago, it was a very sobering and empathetic piece.



great point! they talk about all this division but fail to mention anything about the BLM riots. to be fair, i think i saw a couple video shots of burning building which i assumed to be from the riots but who knows...

lol, man can you imagine the fucking back lash they would get though? lmao, would be insane how fast black people and the left would turn on them. and they wouldn't give two shits about context, they'd just scream racism and white privelaged until netflix removed the doc.

which, if you think about it, would be perfect! it would be proving the point they are trying to make by providing a real time example. but it wouldn't matter bc the outrage would drown out any voices of reason and this doc and it's message would go bye-bye... lol, jfc

man..... crazy fucking times were living in Gaffers
 
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Chittagong

Gold Member
I read the end riots to be BLM. Of course they can’t say so because algorithm would cancel them but that’s what I read into it. People who were not engaging enough on social media driven to streets by triggering them with content they would respond to.
 

Moomalade74

Banned
I read the end riots to be BLM. Of course they can’t say so because algorithm would cancel them but that’s what I read into it. People who were not engaging enough on social media driven to streets by triggering them with content they would respond to.

That's a fair point, I could see they were suggesting that was the case, it's just a shame they were happy to talk about other countries and not mention the US by name, even disregarding talking specifically about BLM. That could've been a reasonable compromise.
 

CloudNull

Banned
That's a fair point, I could see they were suggesting that was the case, it's just a shame they were happy to talk about other countries and not mention the US by name, even disregarding talking specifically about BLM. That could've been a reasonable compromise.
I felt that they intentionally left it all vague because they were worried about coming off too political. I did draw similarities between the kid being radicalized and the BLM movement even though it was not directly related. This is one the reasons I enjoyed the documentary. It kind of leaves it open to interpretation.

I do agree with what Kev Kev Kev Kev said earlier. They did hit the scare tactic pretty hard with the doom and gloom and people need to not let the movie indoctrinate you. I feel this an approach that everyone should take when watching a documentary. Watch it with tons of skepticism.

I still stand by the fact the Documentary is fantastic but there are few things that could be looked into. Like how much should I trust the guy who "helped make the like button". These credentials do not give the dude the ability to be an expert on this issues. Overall though this is an issue that more people need to be aware of. I feel that there is a direct correlation between suicide increase and social media.
 
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Dark Star

Member
I watched it last night! Excellent documentary. It's pretty crazy how the AI knows us better than we know ourselves. The tech has truly advanced too much for our primitive brains to handle.

I've never been "hooked" on social media like Instagram, FB, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Reddit, etc. I don't really pick up my iPhone unless I'm sending a message/calling someone, or at least doing something generally productive like using the device as a tool, such as a taking pictures or listening to music.

I'd say using online forums like GAF on my laptop is a much more addictive activity for me lol.
 
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epicnemesis

Member
I thought it was brilliant and absolutely necessary for all the idiots who have been brainwashed by social media to see. The “story” and the AI scenes were a little dumb but I’ll allow it if it gets people who don’t watch pure documentaries to sit through the whole thing.

Im somewhat less affected by the algorithms because the only person I’ve unfollowed was my cousin who kept posting extremely graphic “stop animal cruelty” stuff. I don’t have the echo chamber that most feeds suffer from, I get fake news from both sides thank you very much.

It has been clear to me for years that social media is what is fueling the divide. I always blamed it more on the deliberate acts of China/Russia but its interesting to see how vital a role the algorithm plays in everything.
 
I don't use FB much anyway.
I spend much more time here on NeoGAF for instance.

Everybody's hating on FB, but in the end it's just a tool you can use however you want.

I unsubscribed to everybody, except my dearest friends
I don't have more than 150 people in my friend list.
I usually only follow groups and artists that interest me, mainly retro computing/gaming stuff.
 
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mid83

Member
I watched it a couple nights ago and watched it with my wife last night. Most of it wasn’t really new to me but my wife said she learned a lot about how the algorithms work and the massive amount of data they mine, which creeped her out a lot.

I do agree with some of the skepticism in this thread in regards to feeling like the movie was a bit too doom and gloom to the point where it felt manipulative itself. Still, it had some good info and I think it’s a good thing to watch for people who don’t really know how much data these companies collect and how these social media algorithms work.

Also, I do think they bring up an important point regarding kids and social media and some of the serious issues that have arisen in recent years. My wife and I are both pretty concerned about how to handle this when our newborn baby is older. We are both pretty set on no phones before high school and specific limits on screen time. I don’t think banning screen time all together (like the Pinterest guy in the doc said he does for his kids) is feasible because we live in a world where technology and screens are everywhere and at some point, your children will have to navigate that world. I do think strict limits and cutoff times at night are absolutely necessary though.
 

rao.d.luffy

Member
I watched yesterday with my girlfriend, and as nerd guy, nothing new for me, but what shocked me most is the fact that my girlfriend didn't know how the algos works and how social media interact with us
I never liked facebook, instagram and another social media apps, the only stuff I like are forums

I made some experiment some time ago and turned off all my apps, notifications, even whatsapp, I was available only by phone, and it's incredible how good it was, I come to a point where notifications and sounds made me nervous and anxious.
And the sad truth is the social pressure to become available online is huge, with family, friends and customers
 
Wife and I are making our younger kids watch this with us shortly, just to reinforce what we already teach them about tech/social media and the IRL influence it wields within their circle of friends as they grow up. It's only going to get worse for their generation. No social media for my kids for a long time, even in teenage years it's going to be monitored by us heavily.
 

TylerD

Member
My wife, soon to be ex-wife got completely sucked into her phone. Would sit and mindlessly scroll through her favorite Reddit subs and Facebook and chat with her friends on Snapchat/iMessage for hours when she got home. Then she would tell me we don’t have anything in common anymore and don’t talk about stuff like we used to. No shit, woman. I couldn’t get you to put down your fucking phone and be present.

Our relationship coming to an end actually got her to delete her Facebook. She said she didn’t want to deal with people asking questions about our relationship and realized that it was just a huge time suck. I originally thought she blocked me because she completely disappeared but she did actually delete it. I got her to watch this documentary and she said that she would have ditched Facebook a long time ago if she knew what it was doing to her.

I wonder how many relationships have died from someone spending so much time on their phones and neglecting their partner.
 
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Scotty W

Gold Member
I watched it a week ago and my memory about it has gotten a bit fuzzy, or it was not that memorable.

The drama was so bad. That Netflix and shit feel. They were VERY cagey about which group the guy joins at the end. They went out of their way NOT to say what he was protesting against. With that said, it felt to me that he was joining the “alt-right” because the group seemed to be portrayed the way that Netflix would portray them- mindless zombies. Does anyone actually think Netflix would have the guts to secretly call BLM protesters zombies?

And yet they play it safe, and don’t identify their target. I would love to see someone cancel them because they allowed the fanatics to be read as BLM.
 

TylerD

Member
I watched it a week ago and my memory about it has gotten a bit fuzzy, or it was not that memorable.

The drama was so bad. That Netflix and shit feel. They were VERY cagey about which group the guy joins at the end. They went out of their way NOT to say what he was protesting against. With that said, it felt to me that he was joining the “alt-right” because the group seemed to be portrayed the way that Netflix would portray them- mindless zombies. Does anyone actually think Netflix would have the guts to secretly call BLM protesters zombies?

And yet they play it safe, and don’t identify their target. I would love to see someone cancel them because they allowed the fanatics to be read as BLM.


You're reading in to it too much. It was the "extreme center" could have been right, left, BLM, Anti maskers, Antifa, Q, or a number of other groups.
 
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