I just finished watching what might be the most important documentary ever made. It’s on Netflix. It does an excellent job of explaining exactly why social media is a threat, why it doesn’t feel like one on an intuitive level (even when we can see its very serious effects on the world around us), and why it’s crucial for us to intervene on our own behalf, immediately.
The strange thing to me is that even knowing the immense power of social media and these algorithms that control it/us, everyone in the documentary seems stuck at the level of harm prevention. None of them seem to grasp the incredible potential of this tool if, instead of simply hobbling it or regulating it, we use it towards...I hesitate to say “utopian” ends since so many people associate that word with inevitable failure, (naturally! Naturally if we don’t live in a utopia, all attempts to create one have been failures! It won’t be associated with success until we successfully create one...*exasperated sigh*) but truly.
If the algorithms are given human goals instead of fiscal ones: connecting people, showing us the information and rhetoric most likely to center our attention around our shared values and solutions to our disputes, directing our attention to where it’s most needed, identifying and preventing scams, threats, propaganda and lies...it could bring about so much good so quickly.
Well, go watch it and see for yourselves.
