SOCIAL MEDIA THE MODERN DAY DILEMMA

 SOCIAL MEDIA THE MODERN DAY DILEMMA 

Its 10:15am on Sunday when I finally decide to sit down and write this article.What you don't know is that Its two days overdue.Yes, like most of you, I like to postpone until the very last moment.See I decided to write this Article on Friday after watching the Social dilemma . The newest documentary about social media on Netflix .However I was  unable to write this article .Surprisingly I found time to watch about  fifteen videos on you tube, and  scrolled through  all my social media apps.Many of us don't stop to question all the recommendations we get from our favorite social media apps.Just how are these apps able to correctly predict videos we find intriguing  every single time.How do we spent hours on our social media apps  every day.

The documentary might just be the scariest movie of 2020.The panel consists of Men and women who helped build algorithms to  monetize and popularize  popular social media apps like pinterest,YouTube ,twitter and many others.How many times have we ignored advice from researchers about our phones. According to this documentary our love for social media has successfully metamorphose into an Addiction.The American  psychiatric  society defines addiction as a "complex condition  a brain disease that is manifested by compulsive substance despite harmful consequence".   Former president of pinterest and CEO of Facebook  points this out clearly when he States that most of us Check our social media apps before we go to the bathroom in the morning or while we are in the bathroom. 

Social media apps have brought untold fortune to their creators  for sure but  as just how do they make their money.Tristan Harris   the president of the Center for Humane Technology       reminds us that if we are not paying for product then we are the product.Companies like Google where he previously worked design algorithms that persuade us to browse them.Social media apps  sell our Data to the highest bidder and we do not even realize its happening. If most of the writers of software admit to falling prey to the software themselves do we really stand a chance against Artificial Intelligence.

Admittedly Artificial intelligence has done lots of good but there seems to be no stop button.Even basic car technology recognizes the importance of brakes .Jaron Lanier Author of Ten Arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now talks about social media manipulating every form of communication how people's minds work.We are psychologically vulnerable .This statement brings an all new meaning to the robot apocalypse.Artificial intelligence which is essentially what all the codes and algorithms feed into evolves faster than human intelligence.

According to The center for Decease control and prevention states that "Preteen and teen Suicide have tripped since the introduction of these apps.We all want to be considered attractive one way or another and the filters have created a new type of craze.We have set ourselves up against impossible beauty standards .Sadly children are getting access to smart phones as early as ten years.Television and radio have set regulations that protect young children but social media does not.Tristan Harris reiterates this,he says that these algorithms are not written by child psychologists.Children growing up now are exposed to a very different reality.They are confronted with virtual online bullies whose sense of anonymity makes them all the braver.Radical beliefs and fake news are  the norm  today.

We are faced with a grim future . I mean we are already faced with global warming now we have to face the monsters we have created via social media.The most recent reminder being peoples reaction to the COVID19 pandemic.The internet was full of conspiracies and people who refused to follow the necessary precautions .Previous  recorded incidences have proven that people have acted on this propaganda with  horrific ramifications.Do we really want to sell our free will to the highest bidder?I  do not want to exist in a world where democracy is equivalent to a unicorn or Fairy tales.We all need to be soldiers in this fight.So start small,turn off your notification and put your phone down sometimes ,catch a glimpse of the  world  we stand to loose if this continues.