This week we focused on the reality, authenticity, and “making sense of it all”. We read the articles, “addicted to distraction,” and “the kids are not alright,” and the movie “The Social Dilemma.” The Social Dilemma is portrayed in a documentary form but also movie sense and it kind of goes back and forth. It talks about the social dilemma with social media such as facebook, instagram, twitter, visco, tik tok, and all other platforms. It also touches base on what we have talked about this entire semester such as fake news, being disconnected from the world but connected at the same time, addiction, hacking, and body dysmorphia due to social media and comparing yourself constantly. All these things are portrayed in this movie. People who worked at these social media companies speak out on here and say that these companies have lost their way by making these sites more addicting. Their business model is to keep you on your phone longer and on their social platforms. How much time can you give these apps is what they’re trying to get. They have all the information about us that we could ever imagine. It makes better predictions of what we are going to do next and things of that nature. It is like a game ” whoever has the best model, essentially wins.” They created a world where online connection is primary. This whole thing is manipulation after manipulation and it is all to keep you online for a longer period of time. They also tap into psychology of human nature, for example the feature of tagging people on post… honestly it is quite genius.

They figured out that they can control the mindset and behavior of society without letting the users know… that to me it is quite scary that we are essentially being manipulated and we are completely unaware. I know I have because I fall for these ads and tagging and just getting on my apps for no reason. It is an addiction and manipulative technology that uses psychology against us. I found this very eye opening and again a little nervous. In the article, “the kids are not alright,” it talks about how these children are growing up In a world of technology unlike any other generation. They are essentially the ginny pigs with social media and this new technology. The generations of the baby boomers, Gen x, Gen y (millennials), Gen z which is me, have all experienced different lives throughout the generations. Some got to go outside and hangout while others lived through a screen the whole lives. Very interesting indeed the differences.

5 things that are beneficial about my generation (Gen z), is that 1) We now could look information up quickly, 2) contact anyone in a matter of seconds 3) I don’t have to talk to people face to face all the time 4) Everything is quick pace 5)Transportation Is a lot easier as well. 5 things that I feel as though is not so great, is that 1) people forget how to speak properly to each other due to a human disconnect of phones , 2) Social norms are changing such as being respectful on dates like going to the door instead of waiting in the car ( Im old school what can I say), 3) people want attention 24/7 instead of just living their lives 4) People have been more sensitive.. not my age group so much but younger people who are only a few years younger than me… it could also be immaturity as well though 5) People are more focused on what is going on in other people’s lives which leaves their face in the phone instead of enjoying the day.

News Link: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/topic/algorithm-updates/

This is a link that has information on what algorithms other social media sites are using or changing. It is connected to other links of what you want to know on what apps I guess.