Social Dilemma
Having seen "The Social Dilemma" many times, I knew what to expect when we watched it in class. The movie paints social media in a very negative manner and brings awareness to the addictive nature of networks.
The scene where the younger daughter is taking selfies and edits them before she sent or posted them, resonated with me deeply. Social media for teenage girls is insanely toxic. Social media feeds showcase everyone at their best, and when you are not at your best, it can be very disheartening to see everyone else thriving. However, those feeds only show the highs, not the lows. Then, the positive comments can make you feel really good, but the negative comments or judgement can cause some serious self-reflection. The example in the movie, where she has a comment made about her ears is not as exaggerated as some may think. I rarely post because I know whatever I post will be judged or criticized by anyone who views it. That feeling of noticing every flaw before posting is really hard, but I feel like I can't post a photo unless I can't find a flaw. As mentioned in the movie, suicide and self-harm rates have been climbing since 2010. This increase is directly associated with the rise in social media use.
Being familiar with the movie, I knew what to expect. However, rewatching always makes me think about different themes. After watching it today, I realized something kind of sad. The last time I watched it was at the beginning of last semester, I have changed as a person since then, and when the movie said something along the lines of "we use social media to fill a void when we are lonely, bored or deflecting" I truly thought about it. Yesterday, I had a very stressful and anxiety filled day, instead of doing work or trying to think about certain problems I had been facing, I spent about four hours on TikTok and Instagram. When I can't fall asleep at night, I roll over and start scrolling.
The addiction people my age have to their phones and social media, is unfortunately something that a lot are unaware of. We grew up with technology and social media being front and center. I seriously do not remember a time before I had a phone. I hope I can limit how much I rely on my phone for comfort.
I too struggle putting the phone down at times. I find that the times I need to get something done I often get distracted by my phone and make a thirty-minute assignment an hour and a half one. I agree this addiction is hard to notice and most people are unaware of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that social media seemed more toxic when I was in middle school. It can definitely make you feel pretty left out or bad about yourself when you are that young. I can also agree that it is really hard to stop scrolling before bed, I always find myself wondering why I didn't go to sleep earlier.
ReplyDeleteIt has to be the most useful and useless thing ever. You could use it to reach out to people you would never be able to connect with without social media. Or you could waste your time scrolling all day, awareness of its affects are huge!
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