 Alright, this is a review of the social dilemma, a Netflix documentary, and this movie explains the social media power. It has great stories and scenarios of how tech companies are manipulating people and their former employees are sharing the data. And this reminds me about the song Incubus's Drive, where are we really in control? Who is in control? And since we're living in the attention economy, ads are being blasted all over the place. Billboards don't matter as much. Who is looking out for our personal well-being? These tech companies are thriving in this personal advertising era, with algorithms, machine learning, and AI. Tweak for mass influence, psychological persuasion, in the realm of Sialdini, it's control versus freedom, and it's all under the guise of free. It's manipulative tactics. Let's push it. Break things. Information wants to be free. It's a casual digital prison, and the cool thing is if you Google Birmingham jail letter, that'll set you free. So tech is good. Are you suffering from phone addiction? Do you feel anxiety when you don't have your phone? Do you have the impulse control to hold back? Be free in the process. Working outside of the mystery of this matrix. Here's a hint of the psychological of human nature. Is rumors spread like wildfire? Maybe it's Musashi's book of fire is the answer. And what we are witnessing is them taking advantage of the prey, with the promise of maximum connection, but really just isolation. Once we were friends, now they're a manipulating psychopath. Who the hell is in control here? A friend to the end? No, but being manipulated by pulling them strings. And they're using popcorn brain and dopamine hits to get us there. Now why am I reviewing this movie? It's because of other influences, the other books I've read, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff, and The Shallows by Nicholas Carr. You can go ahead and check those reviews. I'll have them linked down below. As well as I mentioned other people that I follow and listen to, such as Chamath. He's an Indian techie, part of Facebook, and he's a CEO of Social Capital and a very interesting guy in general. Jonathan Haidt, I have another review of him as coddling of the American mind or something like that. That'll be coming soon. And just tech in general that I'm very interested in. And this type of movie hits the mainstream. And what this movie points out is the characters in the film, primarily the former employees. Now, I don't really want to be mean, but maybe I sound mean, but they are kind of wimpy techies. They live in their own world. Silicon Valley is in their own world. It's a bubble, SF2 as well, since I live right next to them. And I'm from the Bay Area. And it's a story of them escaping this somewhat prison. All the meantime, getting rich off it. They're insiders, so they can give their scenarios and their stories. And it's easy to understand and delivered in an elegant fashion. The best part of the film is the scenarios of them manipulating the kids in the movie, which can be very hard if you're a parent. And I do like the technique and what I've learned is they turn the dial, whether it be hot, whether it be super cold or super hot. They can do things manually or just a tweak things to get people to get their attention. And they can amplify the users to get them to do something. That's the sad thing. Debate and switch, it's a lab rat. And it increases the high probability of usage. Now, what is to be learned in the summary? What are the problems? Especially now that knowledge is a commodity. Action is more rare. Will the lazy people just sit down like a mindless zombie? Now the images and video are taken over the screens. There's Snapchat, dysmorphia, where kids are having a hard time comparing themselves to people around them and the image they see with filters. They can be depressed, anxiety prone. They're not going outside. There's fake news. And are these tech companies helpful? Are they being designed to be ethical? They're made to be addictive. Should they be made less addictive? And this whole industry is getting into young people's thoughts, these notifications. Notifying them early, get them addicted, so they're a customer for life. Surprisingly, they didn't mention James D'Amour. And at one point we really admire Google. We're digital advertising with the new engine. And the tech companies are selling out their users. When it's customers versus users, you're not paying for the product. You are the product. And they're going to do everything they can to keep you engaged and to get your attention. That clickbait effect. They're changing things around selling certainty and predictions. It's surveillance capitalism. It's a whole new marketplace with this. We're heading into new territory and they're trading human futures. And they're really starting to scale. We're in unprecedented times. And they're building models that can predict actions, clicks and likes. They're all predictions. The goals, the engagement, and the growth. It's become an advertiser goal. The algorithms turn that dial to keep them engaged. There's big money involved. The ads, the entertainment, the nudgy, the impressions, the bids for these impressions. And this is the sad part. Online connection is becoming primary when it should be secondary. The connection is manipulation. It's not magical anymore. People have a vulnerable mind. It's persuasive technology. They're modifying behavior. They're doing slot machine mode. They're doing positive, intermittent reinforcement. And they're slow tweaks to keep this technical design. And they gave away tips what they used to do. They used to do anything, such as Facebook, to get people to tag friends. And the goal was to have each user have at least seven friends as fast as possible. Messing with human nature and connection. It's growth hacking. Keep them in that matrix, the lab rats, the zombies. And in between, get them to look at ads and make more money. There's not much awareness of this, and there's a ton of clueless behavior. And even there's a quote in the film that says, that software and drugs are so similar that they both call their products users. Kind of sad. And these former employees knew what was happening that they couldn't have any control. They would have to push the envelope to get that growth hack to get those users. It's evolved into a dopamine pump. And think about the dating life, how the mates and communities. Everybody wants to be in a community. It's Dunbar's rule, 150 people that you get to know. Especially in the dating scene, the social media has expanded to so many different potential mates or roping in recruiting, I would say. And they tend to manipulate by pleasure and pain. There's algorithms and filters. Weird behavior such as duck faces. Anything to hit that brainstem. And the images are a perfection to perceive the likes and the comments. It's a fake brittle popularity. A vacant and empty trailer park. Not a house full of fun. And yet to deal with the perceptions of others, the depression and anxiety. These social tech companies are taking advantage of the young, taking advantage of their fragile lives. There's no risks with tech. And something real in the video is that people don't really have a driver license anymore. Is Uber and Lyft gonna be around? Or the self-driving car is gonna come and bring them to wherever? While they look at their smartphone at all their fake friends? Or potential dates? And they're having a hard time doing homework with these unrealistic standards of beauty. I mean, imagine if you had to grow up with this awkwardness of self-esteem of being a middle schooler. And tech has gotten so power with Moore's law that there's programs to optimize. To the max. Prof and outcome. There's machine learning it. It writes in a way that autofills. It chooses for you. Or gives you possibilities of what we probably want you to choose. Almost a devil's tour guide. And it's a great example of being in the Truman Show. And then the zombies are gonna wake up and they're gonna be pissed off at the world. There's polarizing crowds. There's propaganda, culture wars. If you convince someone enough, they will believe such as that Hitler tactic. Conspiracy theories erupt and spread like wildfire. And they're recommended to us. Live spread fast. Hoaxes are super common. It's what sells. Governments are using these social media machines to manipulate public opinion. Trigger the fake news. There's no trust. It's a remote control pointy to you. And it's a system for sale to the highest bidder. It programs you. And when you think you deserve self-determination or you wanna pursue that, they're not gonna give it to you. It brings out the worst in society. The outrage. Populism is erupting. These algorithms are so powerful, they're just digital Frankensteins created by man. The platform doesn't really matter. There's this confusion, the illusions, the utopia, the matrix. Maybe the red pill can help, but probably not if they're just looking at social media. And it's confusing. It's blurry in a utopia or dystopia. When you're unhappy, when you don't get enough likes. It's such an evil business model. The bigger it gets, the harder it is to change. You have these shareholder pressures, the business model. There's financial incentives. Too much writing on this. Power, profit, and economy. It's great to use occasionally or add some of this to your life, but just like zombie banks and tech, they're becoming like a military industrial complex. Now it's more like the technology industrial complex. The AI is out to smart you. Now how do we make the world a better place when this thing is pushing emotional buttons? Not only our own, but people around us, the people we love. Now in this section, I want to talk about the Lizard King, who is Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, very powerful business. And they had a scandal with Cambridge Analytica. Now they're the biggest social media machine where they'll sell our data, analyze the data, they have the best algorithms and they perfected the advertising game. And an era where it was all about the engineer, Silicon Valley. Now it's about sales and marketing. It's the big pull just to get 1% more of your attention. And they slowly made this game free and they slowly built these ads into it. They perfected the targeting advertising game. They know how to pull the strings and getting you addicted just like Krispy Kreme Donuts. And they're never gonna take responsibility. And now that the Lizard King says that they are not the arbiters of truth, they don't want responsibility for anything. We'll try to keep your data private and not share it. Yet there's a price to that privacy. You gotta pay up. And maybe they will or maybe they won't leverage their power. Now how does all this tech affect the new youth? And it's gonna be hard for the parents to deal with how this influenced the youth. And the new culture with youth is they've grown with a smartphone at hand. They know how to use computer and childhood. They were sponges absorbing bad data. And the data is not provided in a better way of life. And it's gotta be hard to be a parent to protect your kid from the phones and the apps. Especially indoor kids versus, say, going out, fishing and biking like other generations. And most likely healthier. So they're not gonna grow up as healthy as you. And it's like they're selling crack to get you addicted one more at a time. There's less time outside and less experience for the youth. It's a fake AF reality. That isn't even real. It's a sad truth. You gotta understand that. Even though there might be outsiders who are protected or grew up well. And they're getting them addicted on junk. Quick fixes, porn, graphics, outrage, get-ums and likes, acceptance and approval. And imagine that in middle school. You gotta think to yourself. I mean, it's a trick. It's a trap. No generation is as big as tech as before. The smartphone is at a pennage of their body and is used as much as a surfboard as part of a surfers body. It's maximum connection. Their awareness is faulty. I mean, why are there so many triggered snowflakes? The truth causes anxiety. That fake world. They were so influenced by this, the realm of seeking social proof, approval and acceptance. Now, I think this social media is gonna affect females quite more. Their bodies, the self-esteem, beauty, the distraction, the social pressure can cause more phone staring. And they might pay attention more to their phones. Probably in the future for babies. The social high mentality, the care, the comfort, the approval. Smartphone doesn't halt loneliness. Now for males, I think it's gonna be more entertainment zombies. They're gonna be confused, even with the relationships and dating, especially with the hormones, the online dating. Flirting is gonna be awkward. Hardly be able to pick up on social cues. Never dealing with the approach anxiety or the best to cold approach type of style. Seeking security and social proof versus being an individual. The guidance can be bad. And they might be looking up to Dan Bosarian. That fraudulent lifestyle overhyped. Versus seeing things for what they really are. It's gonna be struggle. And they're literally gonna follow females who don't care about them. The attention given is not the attention you're gonna get. It's not the real connection. And something more of the realm of what a beta male provider would do. The guy might put max effort, but it's a step-by-step effort for males. Then there's hardly any by females. And what is the future of tech culture? Will there be regulation? I don't like it, but yeah, there might be. Is there gonna be more responsibility, more discipline, instead of maximum consumerism? Are the tech companies gonna use druggy tactics? Users, pfft. Tech can't just say they're a tech company. They have to take more responsibility. Their censorship and deniability is still definitely in the future. And they're always gonna go and say we never intended tech to be used like this. Twitter, Poison, Reddit. Almost the same. And some of the tech to consider is the fees and advertising model. Is it best to pay? Like no ads, such as Netflix, you don't really see many ads? Or be subscriber and get perks? And who provides the ads as a third party or the company itself? As well as you can see through these apps, Apple and Google charge about 30% of the profits of online purchases on these apps. Will they take a hit? Will they change? Will only fans change to a different model? Or is this the era of the simp? They're just gonna be true to whatever model you give them. And will there be more regulation? Since they are targeting kids, being slick about it, getting them addicted, being a long-term customer, playing the long game, the loving long time. And they got plenty of cash to spend. These tech companies are banks, especially Apple and Google. They want growth at all costs. And when you look at the film, look how these former employees are wimpy. Notice the lack of self-reliance in these people. And since I live in Silicon Valley, I could kind of tell you about them, especially the younger techies. And they even got these techie homes in Mission Bay and the slang is called, it's called douche cube or the yuppie kennel. Somewhat emasculated males, computers all day. No real game. But the fact that in this movie, they give great scenarios and stories to better understand it. The best part of this documentary, by far. And there still are influencers that have been rising with this, the long tail. It's in a big bubble, but they need your attention. And there's gonna be a battle for attention to sell you something, sell you anything, ads or products. And it might become rotten to the core. Probably not as bad as government though. Will it be controlled or is gonna still be a free market if that even exists? Something you do is just don't use it. Don't let them hit that pleasure pain principle. And it's cool to see time go by and see these tech companies that were once darlings. Do no evil. Now they're sneaking in TikTok dances. Or even if, surprisingly, hopefully not, TikTok causes were war three. Tech does increase efficiency. So tech will capture jobs and are gonna be highly desired for the sake of survival. And you gotta be flexible with the future and work hard. No one is safe. In present day, people are enjoying hating on these tech platforms. Just wait till you see 5G roll out. And you're probably gonna see more entertainment zombies run amok. And my prediction is tech beasts like NVIDIA, AMD and Amazon are gonna lead the charge. Or even Tesla. Now those aren't social media companies. But tech is still on the rise. Now in this section I'm gonna talk about tech tidbits and some observations I wanna share. Instagram always puts very young, voluptuous females in my Instagram feed. Now they're doing that for a reason. For every other male too as well. And trying to hook them with love interest. Patuating sim culture. And they have this thing called Linktree. We click on it and you can go to their only fans, YouTube or whatever. So you can just deep dive into all their other formats. And let's see what happens with that. And seeing Twitch female streamers on recruit difficulty to get them Sims to watch. What are they gonna do? What's the future hold? Now I have Twitch Turbo per Devon Nash. Is that they don't want users to buy it. Twitch Turbo is a $10 fee you pay to not see ads whenever you click on Twitch streamers. Now what Devon Nash says is they don't want users to buy that Twitch Turbo. Because that would ruin Amazon's Twitch's advertising model. Now YouTube does it too as well. However you can get it for a family cost for about $18 a month. I do both those. And they do sports updates on Twitter. Why do they do this? Because that's what gets the sports fans in. Even though I block sports. Because I don't really wanna watch them during this pandemic. There's some link between them and sports and other industries that tech has. And if you look back, we're living in a funny era. Funny phenomenon is tech detox. And where the intellectual dark web matters, we wanna hear the truth or good opinions or an opinion in general. It might be negative, but the truth is out there. Not just in articles. Which used to be good, but that's changed. So there's this huge dark side of tech. Just like shadow banking or the shadow man. Now this last section is my advice to outsmart the algorithm or the resolutions. And what you wanna put forward is there's too much precedence on tech. You gotta go outside and do it yourself. Less indoors and no notifications. Rebooks, even though Kindle is digital. Reading is work at first. But you wanna do anything to get away from ads. Some quick resolutions to use Evernote. Turn off notifications for voicemails, emails. Only notifications should be your alarm. Just check Twitter two or three times a day. And what I do is I buy Twitch Turbo to get rid of the ads and YouTube premium for my whole family. So the whole family can get it with no ads. And you could have up to brown six. Costs about $20 a month, but it's well worth it. If you get an Amazon Kindle, pay the extra $15 on that Kindle to get no ads. It's kinda funny that I'll pay to watch no ads. Time is money as well as think about your health. That's the bottom line. Get rid of the ads and the salesman. And I would do a death of the salesman to get in touch with that topic at some point. Individuals was key. And what the zombies do is what they're gonna do. In the meantime, just chill and just press forward. Stay away from the fast news and stick with the books. Don't watch your life pass you by. No feeds. Meditate. Think of the time gained from less ads. And the time to do something productive. That's the ultimate action you wanna take from this video. And a reminder for the youth is, adults are influenced less, but the young, they're very vulnerable. Things can shift fast with polarizing data. The max drama, especially when there's not much substance to it. We might be at war with robots. The software robots. You don't wanna be desperate or this please stimulate me or manipulate me. You don't wanna be weak or frail. And tech is always gonna say to get away with more that they're not a media company. They have no responsibility and they don't want regulation because it could ruin their companies. You don't wanna be caught up in the digital prison. And remember, the gate is gateless. And who knows, it might be the era, the simp or the flourishing of the zombie entertainment industry. There's a social versus the individual. Be an individual. Meditate, be super chilling. Be a DE soldier. It's the rise of self-reliance and not pop culture. And you can check out my other Netflix-oriented videos and the tech playlist for more. Give yourself a break and congrats if you were early on in Red Shallows by Nicholas Carr and The Age of Friends Capitalism by Shoshana. Those links will be down below and the YouTube reviews as well. Thanks for listening.