Ep. 282 Social Dilemma: What Social Media Is Doing to You

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Shows Main Idea – Social media platforms are not interested in selling your information. They intend to get you addicted to their platforms so that you stay on them longer. They call you a user, which is the language of addiction. How aware are you of what Silicon Valley is doing to you, and what are you doing about it?

Show Notes

You may want to read:

• Warning: There Is an Algorithmic Version of You on the Internet
• What Is the Cyber-Effect, and What Can You Do about It?
• How Cyber Relationships Affect Real-Word Relationships
• How Can I Compete with Cyber Women?

Addiction Assessment

Before you get out of bed in the morning, do you grab your phone, or do you wait until you use the restroom? You only have two choices because you’re a user. If these are your only two choices, then you are an addict and need help.

Matchmaking

Sites like Facebook are figuring you out by studying what you watch, click on, and share. By knowing who you are, they can connect advertisers to you, so you buy their products. It’s not about selling your information because they don’t want anyone to know what they have on you.

They aim to store all that information so that they can predict your behavior. Google’s 300-year-plan is to tell you what you want to do before you know you want to do it. AI does this, according to the book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.

Testing Algorithms

• If you and a friend were sitting side-by-side and Googled the same thing, the search results would reveal two different things because you have two different algorithms.
• If your spouse used your Facebook account and searched for swimsuits, you would begin seeing advertisements about swimsuits when you log into Facebook. The algorithm thinks it’s you searching for swimsuits because it was your account. (This scenario happened to a friend of mine.)
• If you lived in a blue city and searched for climate change, the results would differ from the person searching the same thing in a red town.
• If you searched for a left politician, the results on the first page would be positive. If you searched a conservative politician, the results would be negative.

To a Friend

I said the following to a friend asking, “Why do I stay on Facebook.” Though the question was partly in jest, I believe, I responded this way, which I trust you will take to heart.

It’s because you’re a user. No offense intended here, but there are only two demographics that are called users. One is those who are addicted to drugs, and the other are those addicted to these platforms. That’s not me saying this but Silicon Valley. They look at you as a user. Their objective is always to be figuring out how to keep you on these platforms. If you have not watched the documentary #socialdilemma, I appeal to you to do it, and then become strategic about these platforms, including dumping some of them, including specific browsers. I use Qwant.

If your friends want to hear from you, tell them to go to MeWe or another platform that is not manipulating you through their algorithms. They can friend you there. This problem is more severe than most folks think, and I’m not an alarmist. Most of the folks who create these apps don’t let their children use them because they know what they are doing to us. The user is the last to know.

What We’re Doing

1. Building a ministry site where we can control the throttle, e.g., spent $500 to change our site’s videos. E.g., people cannot find Daniel Berger’s Facebook videos.
2. Consider using Qwant or a less intrusive browser
3. Move to less intrusive platforms, i.e., MeWe, Parler
4. Don’t let your friends control your choices, e.g., I would love to follow you, but you’re not on Facebook.
   1. We don’t put personal posts on Facebook or interact with anyone on it.
5. Delete as many apps off your phone as you can
6. Talk to your family member’s about these issues
7. We bought an annual subscription to the Daily Wire to access conservative content

Social Dilemma Suggestions

These suggestions are from the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. (If you don’t have a Netflix account, it would be worth getting a thirty-day subscription to watch this documentary.)

1. Recognize the Problem
2. Create Massive Public Pressure
3. Turn Off Notifications
4. Use Browsers That Don’t Store Search History
5. Don’t Go for Recommendations, Always Choose
6. Do That Extra Google
7. Avoid Clickbait
8. Follow People with Opinions Different from You
9. Keep Kids Away from Social Media
10. Get out of the System!

Call to Action

1. Are you a social media addict? How do you know?
2. Are you able to set aside your phone? How do you know?

Helpful Videos

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Rick Thomas

Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.

In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).