Our Social Dilemma
Authored by Bill Hansmann via AmericanThinker.com,
I watched an extremely troubling movie the other night on the recommendation of my friend Rich. It was on Netflix but is also available on YouTube and is called The Social Dilemma.
We wonder why partisan rancor and political division are at an unprecedented level in our country. This film suggests a likely answer.
We spend a lot of time on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and others, but not nearly as much time as they spend on us. It seems that these platforms are populated and are indeed driven by algorithms that are individually calibrated to give each user what the platform decides that person wants to see, demonstrated by his pushing the “LIKE” buttons. Liberals get items with a liberal slant. Conservatives receive stories and items that match their previous likes. Those individuals who exhibit a liking of conspiracies get more of the same, as well as ads designed to sell black helicopters.
In other words, every time we “LIKE” an item on Facebook, our individual settings are fine-tuned. Our news feeds, as well as our comments, are monitored and used to even more precisely shape what we see on our screens. No two individuals get the same variety of items on their Facebook pages or on any other platform.
