“The Social Dilemma” Movie Explains Social Media Algorithms with guest Julia Hoppock on the Unplug & Plug In Podcast: Episode 6
Learn what "The Social Dilemma" teaches us about algorithms, Big Tech and their broken business model - with guest Julia Hoppock - on today’s podcast episode.
Today our topic is social media platforms and the movie that got us talking about harmful algorithms, "The Social Dilemma". Special guest Julia Hoppock joins host Lisa Honold with her perspective working inside The Social Dilemma impact campaign.
Topic: Social media platforms and "The Social Dilemma"
“Our mission with the impact campaign for The Social Dilemma is to leverage the power of storytelling, including the film, to help put pressure on big social and realign technology with the public good.”
Julia Hoppock
Lisa Honold: “What do you think parents need to know right now about algorithms when it relates to social media platforms?”
Julia Hoppock: “I think what parents need to know is that the business model is not built with children's wellbeing in mind, and it's not built for any of our well-beings in mind.
What The Social Dilemma did well was really visualize the business model and shows the ways in which these business models are optimizing for engagement. That's how they make money. The longer you stay on the platform, the more that data is mined from you, that data can be served to advertisers so that they are serving you products that you're more likely to buy.
And the unfortunate thing is that the content that keeps people engaged on these platforms tends to be damaging content. It tends to be what's the most outrageous thing that's going to get you to click on or what is, you know, misinformation, as we brought to light in the film, but the study from MIT fake news spread six times faster than real news, and even hate speech that can engage you and send you down into a rabbit hole.”
As you can see, it’s a fascinating conversation. Listen to the full episode here.
Here are some more highlights:
What parents need to know about algorithms and how they work in social media accounts
The business model for social media companies and why it's harmful to all of us
What it feels like to grow up surrounded by social media - a Gen Z's perspective
The Facebook Files and whistleblower Frances Haugen's contributions to this discussion
The UK's Age-Appropriate Design Code and how we can leverage it in the US
Links to learn more about this topic
You can watch "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix.
To learn more about ways to take action and access resources from The Social Dilemma, go here.
To access the free 40 minute educator version of the film and resources including discussion guides, go here.
To learn more about the UK's Age-Appropriate Design Code, go here.
To learn more about 2021 Senate Hearings on the Facebook whistleblower, Facebook/Instagram Files and TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube.
Next Steps
Watch "The Social Dilemma".
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