Our Social Dilemma

I love movies. I grew up with movies in every part of my being. My first job was at a VHS rental store. My fourth job was working at a movie theatre. What’s that have to do with design? I recently watched the documentary, “The Social Dilemma” and it really got me thinking about what I should be looking for in a design career. How is my work going to impact people? Is this career path a bad idea? I think it freaked me out more than anything. This isn’t a movie review as much as how it made me feel about the future of computer technology.

“The Social Dilemma” is a documentary about how social media companies operate. It paints a very grim picture of our global future already in progress. I don’t want to go over every detail to spoil it for you. I highly recommend watching it to make your own opinions about it. What I do want to talk about is the dilemma.

I learned about the ethics of design in school and just assumed everyone was on board for treating people humanely. And then I learned it may not be that black and white. What if the software that was designed to bring people together turned out to be the same software that separates us all? This is what really got me thinking about where I should be putting my energy. How do we balance the good and bad sides of social media, and how do we design a better future? I know I don’t have all the answers, but it’s weighing on me. The world is in a strange state right now, and I feel like we all have an opportunity to do even something small to bring people back together.

The documentary doesn’t offer a lot of solutions to the issues it poses, but it does help inform. It opens a door I think everyone that uses technology should be aware of and can decide for themselves to explore the topics further. We as a society should know how and why our lives are changing due to the technology we use. We should also take action before the software dictates the rules for us. And remember to take a break and walk away from the computer that happens to be in your pocket.