Cleverly titled to reference the 2010 film The Social Network, this new Netfilx documentary delivers some hard truths 10 years on from the award-winning film. It is an essential watch in this age of disinformation and fake news, and is fantastically timed to all relevant issues of today. It argues that social media is not merely a tool, but rather a manipulation and shows us how close to our own personal Matrix we actually are.
It is not surprising and as soon as they say it, it’s like we’ve known it all along, but it’s great to have it all in one documentary and explained by actual ex-industry professionals. We don’t really want to hear that we have been being manipulated for capital gain by the very device that has become so essential to everyday life.
It takes the form of many other Netflix documentaries (with some added dramatisation) so the style is very familiar, but it seems that The Social Dilemma has done what The Great Hack only scratched the surface of. It shows that we are evolving faster than we can even keep up with, despite humans having created these very technologies. The subjects take some responsibility and even offer opinions and solutions about what should be done in the future, but ultimately there is barely any progression within the narrative of the documentary. It warns and suggests, but ultimately it makes you question whether even now they are telling the truth.
‘The Social Dilemma’ is available to stream on Netflix.
Pep Reviews 