I have two questions for you today. The first is: Do you know how many times you have been treated and sold like a commodity today? The answer is as many times as you have logged onto social media apps like Facebook or others that allow Facebook to collect data about you. Hard to believe, but it is true. Haven’t you ever wondered why you do not pay for apps like Facebook? It is because you are not really the consumer, but rather, you are the commodity that is being sold!
Social media apps are a big business, and like any other business; their goal is to make money. I recently watched the 2020 Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, and was struck by the comment made by tech expert Tristan Harris, “if you are not paying for the product, then you are the product.” I never realized that advertisers are the real customers of social media and we, the users, are the commodity being sold to them.
Social media apps use algorithms and artificial intelligence to keep us engaged on their sites for as long as they can so they can learn more things about us. Once they gather information about us, they make money by selling our data to advertisers and other organizations that seek to influence us to buy the products or ideas they are selling. This is not only an invasion of our privacy, but it is also manipulation.
This leads me to my second question for today: Did you know we are living in 1984? No, I have not lost my mind. I am not speaking about the actual year, I know it is 2022, but I am referring to the world described by George Orwell in his novel 1984. Even though it is a work of fiction written over 70 years ago, Orwellian tactics like Big Brother are real and used today by social media apps which manipulate and control us. The Social Dilemma also reveals that social media sites monitor our activity and bombard us with propaganda so that we see things the way they want us to see them or show us information that only agrees with our viewpoints which reinforces beliefs and biases we already have and closes us off to other ideas.
In his 2011 book, Eli Pariser called this the “filter bubble.” This is something that everyone should be concerned about, even those of you that do not use social media because this manipulation divides us as a society. When we are not exposed to different opinions, we cannot gain an informed understanding of others.
Being exposed to only one side of an issue can also be harmful to our democracy. An open exchange of ideas and opinions is necessary to ensure democracy and to prevent political societies like dictatorships, which prohibit ideas that do not mirror their own. Social media is also a big threat to democracy. The 2017 Netflix documentary, The Great Hack, reveals Facebook’s unfair interference in elections in the U.S and in Trinidad which was accomplished by targeting users with misinformation, fear, hatred, and propaganda to influence the election outcomes.
So, what do we do to protect ourselves and democracy? I am sure none of us wants to quit social media apps for good, but we can take measures to protect ourselves from this manipulation.
Some things we can do are not watch any recommended content they show us or fall prey to quizzes like “Which Superhero are you?” which just seek to gain personal information about us to target us. More importantly, it is essential for us to use media literacy and our critical thinking skills to fight against propaganda and manipulation.
We must learn to question and judge what info is presented to us on Facebook and always keep in mind that all social media messages are constructed by someone who wants us to see things their way. We must be sure not to fall prey to creative techniques like the Superhero quiz which will only make us more susceptible to manipulation. We must learn to rely on our own unique interpretations and experiences rather than allow ourselves to be targeted by content that seeks to influence our opinion or sell us something. Since all social media messages carry information about whom and what is important, we must take the time to identify credible media sources such as those with ethical guidelines like policies against conflicts of interests, look up news media ratings to find neutral sources, and use reliable fact checking sites. Lastly, we must always remember that social media is influenced by money and ideology, so when contemplating something like the Superhero Quiz, we need to question the motives of who is being served by it. As long as we use our critical thinking and media literacy skills, we can continue to enjoy social media while protecting ourselves from being manipulated and targeted by it.
