What do you call a "documentary" that takes a firm stance on one side of an issue, does not bother to interview a single person with a contrary opinion and then ends by asking you to do something?
I have no love for social media companies. I don't even have a Twitter account. And there are legitimate social issues that need to be discussed, such as increased suicide rates amongst teenagers etc.
But while this movie is claiming that social media companies are manipulating you into behaving differently than you otherwise would, the film itself sets out to scare the living daylights out of you immediately before ending with a request that you do something you otherwise would not have done. Rather hypocritical if you ask me.
Don't trust film makers or Netflix any more than you trust Facebook or Instagram.
Full disclosure: I work in tech (but not for any social media company), I hear these same claims on a daily basis and what the film does not tell you is that there are a lot of activist groups with different agendas trying to lobby the government into passing various laws at the moment. Not all of these groups are on the same page, or want the same things and they are not necessarily looking for the same results that you are. None the less, various individuals from these groups were featured in the documentary and edited such that it looks like they have a common goal and a common interest when they don't. For example: maybe you are concerned with the mental health of children as related to social media consumption, and an activist group - knowing that's something people care about - will give lip service to that issue while what they're really wanting to do is pass censorship laws because they want the power to control what can and can't be posted on social media.
Just beware that this "documentary" was manipulative in itself, very one sided and does not accurately represent the disparate, nuanced and occasionally contradictory views of the various people represented.
I have no love for social media companies. I don't even have a Twitter account. And there are legitimate social issues that need to be discussed, such as increased suicide rates amongst teenagers etc.
But while this movie is claiming that social media companies are manipulating you into behaving differently than you otherwise would, the film itself sets out to scare the living daylights out of you immediately before ending with a request that you do something you otherwise would not have done. Rather hypocritical if you ask me.
Don't trust film makers or Netflix any more than you trust Facebook or Instagram.
Full disclosure: I work in tech (but not for any social media company), I hear these same claims on a daily basis and what the film does not tell you is that there are a lot of activist groups with different agendas trying to lobby the government into passing various laws at the moment. Not all of these groups are on the same page, or want the same things and they are not necessarily looking for the same results that you are. None the less, various individuals from these groups were featured in the documentary and edited such that it looks like they have a common goal and a common interest when they don't. For example: maybe you are concerned with the mental health of children as related to social media consumption, and an activist group - knowing that's something people care about - will give lip service to that issue while what they're really wanting to do is pass censorship laws because they want the power to control what can and can't be posted on social media.
Just beware that this "documentary" was manipulative in itself, very one sided and does not accurately represent the disparate, nuanced and occasionally contradictory views of the various people represented.