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In January 2020, The Social Dilemma, a Netflix documentary, caught many viewers attention. This documentary had viewers have a better understanding on how social media works behind the scenes and how it truly is scary seeing how it all works. It shows the dark side and dangerous impact social media has changed our human society. With all the attention this successful documentary is receiving, there are many reviews on how people felt about this interesting yet disturbing film.

The Social Dilemma explores how social media works and how it has manipulated many people just under a screen. There are many interviews of past employees who have worked with big companies, for example, Facebook. In these interviews they explain how many big companies can see every move you make on the internet. They can track where, when and what you are looking at through your device. These companies have so much information about us that we don’t even know about.

During this film, it also shows a scenario about a family going through issues with technology. The children of the family do not want to put their phones down. Skyler Gisondo, who plays Ben, a high school student, shows his daily life. One day Ben’s mom challenges him to put his phone down for a week and he accepts. He starts off well until he feels the urge to use his phone. Behind his screen is a trio of men watching his every move on his phone. This film comes to show how much social media has affected others in a positive or negative way. 

Many people are shocked about this film and how much it has covered the negative side of the media. It makes you think that now you can’t really trust anything. Many news sources can be fake or real. Many big companies track every move you make and how social media has manipulated not only our generation but younger generations. Many viewers are starting to realize how toxic this is and have taken the time to shut off electronic devices. 

As a first time viewer, I can say I was shocked at how much information tech companies can take away from us. They can literally see everything; they can even know what our emotions are by seeing how we are using our social media. I liked how the documentary showed many different interviews from ex employees of big companies. We get to see their perspectives on how big companies work behind a screen. It shows how manipulative social media is.

What’s scary for me is that these ex-employees know so much about what is happening that many leave their job because of how much they have learned about how it all really works.

I also liked how they showed all of this world out in real life, with showing you a scenario with a family. I wish they would’ve shown more about this family or overall how all of this looks like in real life. Overall, I really enjoyed this film and it gave me new perspectives in how social media really works. I recommend others to watch to see how social media really has us manipulated and feeling like we are being controlled.