Danger: Social Media

Gary North - June 12, 2021

I recommend that you watch the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma. Here is a preview:

It offers bad news: the psychologically destructive nature of social media on teenagers and pre-teens.

It also offers good news: the growing loss of voters' confidence in official explanations issued by national governments. (This is seen as bad news by the people in the documentary.)

Here is a major message of the documentary: the expansion of the behavior-modifying power of the algorithms is irreversible. The whole world is at risk.

I do not think this is correct. The addiction to social media will cease to spread rapidly at some point because some people will refuse to use algorithm-based social media heavily. These platforms will not provide what they want out of life. The world will become divided into non-users, minimal users, and heavy users.

There is no way to predict who these people will be.

I am a minimal user. I own a 2006 model flip phone. Algorithms can get to me only on YouTube.

Now watch this lecture: