As an avid Twitter reader, I’ve been seeing tweets about The Social Dilemma pop up daily since the day it hit Netflix. Upon watching the film and discovering how social media “works”, the tone of reviews seems to range from concerned to terrified. I can’t say I’m not slightly amazed that so much of the audience seems surprised to learn that, when it comes to social media, they are actually the product, but that certainly seems to be the case.

What’s interesting about the film is that it features some of the very people that built and grew various social media platforms. The viewer watches them squirm and blush as they explain their contributions to the creation of the monster that is social media. Like most people whose work involves some form of personal data collection, they, of course, deny any nefarious intent. Despite working to enhance engagement, many seem almost shocked it worked so well. (One even admits to finding himself getting “high on his own supply.”)

What was less interesting in the film was the over-dramatizations depicting how social media works and how it affects individuals and families. Rather than showing real-life scenarios, we see a family of actors recreating forced situations, including a ridiculous scene where the young daughter can’t make it through a family dinner without her phone and smashes a timer-locked container keeping her from her social media.

The most head-scratching part of the film, for me, was watching Vincent Kartheiser play a social media algorithm. As if the realities of how social media works aren’t problematic enough, the filmmakers show the algorithm as some sort of emotional entity, cheering engagements and with the ablity to tap you on the shoulder any time you put your phone down for too long. While I enjoy the wink of having Pete Campbell in on the sleazy part of social media data, it was a bit too cartoonish.

Overall the film is definitely worth a watch, especially for anyone who doesn’t understand how the user is involved in how social media makes money. While there is no argument that social media has had an enormous impact on the world – in both good and bad ways – I think the film exaggerated its direct impact on individual’s thoughts. I’ve long rolled my eyes at people who blame social media for society’s behaviors. Social media may amplify and reinforce certain behaviors (good and bad), but it is us who first tell it what we want to see and hear.