Is it possible to reduce dependence on actions on social networks?
Anyone who works in digital media or is interested in the subject cannot miss the documentary “ The Social Dilemma ”, recently released by Netflix. The work combines interviews with renowned professionals in the digital field with fictional scenes that manage to illustrate well and explain in a very didactic way how this so-called artificial intelligence works on social media platforms.
The film warns about social media and its impact on democracy and humanity. Executives from giants such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest begin by saying that platforms are exceeding the limits of using users' data in order to make them increasingly connected in the online world. The way in which algorithms' decisions to capture people's attention in an increasingly personalized way are very interesting.
I recently participated in a report about the film that asked several professionals in the advertising market: “Is the problem addressed also the responsibility of brands and agencies? ”
The debate revolves around the audience and behavior of users on line data social media being used as a sales currency. In other words, it addresses how our data is being commercialized within these platforms. In this sense, there is indeed a great responsibility on the part of brands and agencies, since, in most cases, they are the ones who buy this data, which is important for better sales performance. There is a thought of developing the algorithm that drives a change in the way users consume – and even think –, making the environment “easier” and “fertile” for sales. And it can be for a product, a service or even a social object, for citizenship, such as voting, as shown in the film.
Advertisers can also fall victim to harmful algorithms. A prime example was Sleeping Giants, a movement created to expose brands that were running ads on pages with completely inappropriate content, including hate speech, racism, fundamentalism, etc., a series of topics that common ethics say a brand should not be associated with. This happens because the algorithm places users in “bubbles” of thought and behavior, and then determines which bubble is most ideal for that brand to be represented. Thus, the advertiser ends up becoming a hostage to this algorithm’s decision.
The film highlights something that made me think deeply: today, young people who are on social media are part of the last generation that knew the world before these platforms existed. There is a new generation that is being born now that will not know what it is like to live without social media. These people were born into these networks, into the “Matrix,” and this is very worrying.
I believe that if there is no government or regulatory determination, if devices that protect people's privacy are not created, the relationship between algorithms and user behavior will become increasingly complex. Artificial intelligence will certainly become even more developed and sophisticated, causing people's lives – the way they position themselves in the world, their consumption trends, etc. – to be completely manipulated by social networks.