Technologies

Social media platforms are one of the primary technologies focused on in the movie. Popular platforms include Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and many others, which are all constantly working to get users to spend as much time as possible on their apps and websites. The design of these platforms often leads to addiction, causing users to spend countless hours every day using social media. Part of the reason for this addiction is the sense of social validation it provides. When you receive likes, comments, and shares online, it gives people an instant feeling of validation, causing people to keep coming back for more.  Social media use releases dopamine for similar reasons. Dopamine is a "feel good" chemical in the brain that is released when a person anticipates or experiences an enjoyable activity. The release of this chemical creates a feedback loop where users keep coming back to social media to experience that feeling in the same way that a drug or gambling addict would. On top of this, many social media platforms induce FOMO when they aren't being used through the use of push notifications. When users have been away from social media for a period of time, they worry that they may be missing countless posts, stories, messages and comments.

The main reason that social media apps are so successful at retaining users' attention is because of the recommendation algorithms used by them.  Almost all of the content you will see on social media is curated by complex machine-learning algorithms that are designed to maximize engagement and keep you on the app for as long as possible. The more you view and interact with posts, the more these algorithms will be able to adjust themselves to match your personal interests. The "infinite scroll" format that many platforms employ is designed to maximize the effectiveness of these algorithms while also encouraging prolonged use without any breaks. However, these algorithms are the cause of many problems not only within social media, but outside of it as well. As these algorithms collect more and more data about what posts you like, view or interact with, you will be shown more and more content that aligns with your own political beliefs and personal interests. Not only does this make posts more engaging, but it also has been leading to a sharp increase in political polarization in recent history, as people are constantly being shown political posts (which are not always true) that these algorithms know you will agree with. This often causes people to be politically radicalized by the internet when they are only being shown posts from one side of an argument, and the occasional heated post from the other side that your "personal bubble" will disagree with in the comments. 

Another consequence of machine learning algorithms is that the data they collect about you doesn't just go away. It is estimated that Terabytes of information for each user on a typical social media website ends up being collected and stored on remote databases. This data isn't only used to recommend you posts, either. This data is often sold to advertisers or other companies in order to build a consumer profile about you, allowing companies to give you more targeted ads or build marketing campaigns. This process of selling users' data for a profit is known as surveillance capitalism.