I Couldn't Help But Feel Unsettled By The End Of This Docume

I Couldnt Help But Feel Unsettled By The End Of This Documentary Whi

I couldn't help but feel unsettled by the end of this documentary. While I was fully invested and interested in the conversation being presented, I had an overwhelming urge to watch a light-hearted TV show immediately once the film concluded just to take my mind off the issue. The thing is, it's not like I didn't know most of this information before; I knew that social media platforms were keeping an index of my searches, my interests, and my locations. I knew that my data was used to activate sponsorships on my feeds that were tailored to my interests, mainly because I am in a major that promotes this business model. I often just choose to ignore thinking into it because I get to how I'm feeling right now: unsettled.

Uncomfortable. Disturbed. One of the points made in the documentary that stood out to me was the statement that refreshing your feed is equivalent to slot machines in Las Vegas and that this similarity was intentional. I know that in the documentary it was emphasized that the original creators of these functions did not have any malpractice intentions, but this point made me doubt that statement. I understand how it might be easy to dehumanize social media by looking at it as a business model and being unable to see the people that it affects personally.

Overall, these are people who are ignoring ethics and morals in order to profit from addiction and manipulating people's psychology. Along the lines of manipulation, social media developers know that the COVID-19 pandemic is obscure to people and know that people are terrified of obscurity through basic principles of psychology. Instead of circulating minimal and current information from working professionals, social media developers are tracking terrified individuals who are looking for answers and sending them directly to conspiracies made by similarly terrified individuals. Now that I've finished this documentary, I really want to delete all my social media profiles. The thing is, I'm in a major that relies on these platforms. Our world today is so reliant on and consumed by the importance of social media and my final take is that while social media is great for information, it also has to be restricted and managed ethically.

Paper For Above instruction

The documentary explored the pervasive influence of social media on modern society, highlighting the ways in which these platforms manipulate user behavior and exploit psychological vulnerabilities for profit. Watching the film left me with a sense of unease, as I reflected on the extent of data collection, user manipulation, and ethical lapses involved in the operation of social media giants. This feeling was compounded by the realization that many users, including myself, are partly aware of these practices but choose to ignore or overlook them due to the convenience and social benefits these platforms provide. This cognitive dissonance—acknowledging unethical behaviors yet continuing to participate—illustrates the complex relationship society has with social media.

One of the most striking points in the documentary was the comparison of refreshing social media feeds to slot machines in Las Vegas, emphasizing how designed addiction is a deliberate feature rather than a bug. This analogy was compelling because it exposed the strategic efforts of platform designers to maximize user engagement through variable rewards, a concept rooted in behavioral psychology (Kahneman, 2011). The randomness of these rewards encourages continual checking, leading to addictive patterns similar to gambling addiction. Although the creators of these algorithms claimed no malicious intent, the outcome reveals a significant ethical issue: prioritizing user engagement and profit over user well-being (Bhargava & Shankar, 2014).

Social media companies have become skilled at dehumanizing users by framing their business model as a neutral technology platform rather than a mechanism that actively influences psychological states. They manipulate users into prolonged engagement by exploiting natural human tendencies, including loss aversion and the desire for social validation (Tamir & Mitchell, 2012). As the documentary highlights, these practices raise serious moral questions about the exploitation of human psychology—particularly when vulnerable populations, such as teenagers or individuals during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, are targeted.

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored how social media could be weaponized through misinformation and conspiracy theories. Platforms tracked users' fears and anxieties, then fed them tailored content designed to increase engagement through sensationalism. Psychological principles suggest that fear, uncertainty, and the lack of reliable information create fertile ground for misinformation to spread, as users seek quick answers and reassurance (Garfin, Silver, & Holman, 2020). By feeding individuals false or misleading content, social media companies inadvertently deepen societal divisions and undermine public health efforts, revealing a troubling disregard for ethical responsibilities.

Faced with these unsettling truths, I am compelled to consider deleting all my social media accounts. Yet, as a student in a field heavily reliant on these platforms for networking, information, and professional development, I am aware of the practical implications. This dilemma illustrates the tension between individual agency and structural dependence—highlighting the need for stronger regulations and ethical practices in social media development (Tufekci, 2015). Society must demand greater transparency and accountability from platform providers to reinstate social responsibility as a core principle, rather than sacrificing morality for profit.

In conclusion, the documentary successfully illuminated the dark side of social media—its potential to manipulate, distract, and harm users psychologically. While these platforms can serve valuable informational purposes, their unchecked expansion and operation pose significant ethical questions. It is imperative that social media be managed with a clear set of ethical guidelines, emphasizing user well-being over engagement metrics. Only through conscious regulation, critical media literacy, and increased transparency can society mitigate these harmful effects and ensure that social media remains a tool for positive connection rather than a source of widespread psychological harm.

References

• Bhargava, S., & Shankar, R. (2014). How to harness the power of behavioral science. Harvard Business Review.
• Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health: A Review of the Literature. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S81–S87.
• Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Tamir, D. R., & Mitchell, J. P. (2012). Motivations to help others reveal self-knowledge, not altruism. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 516–530.
• Tufekci, Z. (2015). Algorithmic harms beyond Facebook and Google: Emergent challenges of computational agency. Colorado Technology Law Journal, 13, 203–218.