
I knew going in that I’d be saddened and angered by ‘The Social Dilemma‘ the same as I was after watching ‘The Great Hack‘. I was right. Watching the documentary filled me with existential dread and anger. Nothing in it will be a shock to anyone who’s been involved in tech for the last decade (Except the suicide rates, that was shocking to me). While not shocking, it was still eye-opening and horrifying. I urge you to watch both of the documentaries mentioned above and make adjustments to your online life. The only way we’re going to fix this is by fighting back. Which is why this on my blog, and not a Facebook post.
That said, you should watch both if you still use Facebook.
As ‘The Social Dilemma‘ wrapped up I was already on my phone re-engaging Apple’s screen time, and turning off notifications on even more apps.
I’d be off Facebook today if it wasn’t where the indie publishing industry was centered. That industry, its insights and members are invaluable so I’d be hamstringing my career by cutting off access to that.
I’ve been working on spending less time there (Need to re-center those efforts). Despite its equally horrible problems twitter is a great way to still get a fix of what’s happening in the world, and if you don’t use Twitter’s site or apps, you can still get it unfiltered/unmanaged. You can also take a more active position in where you get news from, by controlling who you follow.
As a separate (but related) thing, I also just went in and told Google to blur my house in street view. You should too. I’m over giving Silicon Valley anything for free.