• Home
  • Bio
  • Media
    • Read
    • Watch/Listen
  • Speaking
  • Work with me
  • Contact

MsAfropolitan

FEMINISM. PAN-AFRICA. SOCIAL CRITICISM. DIASPORA. CULTURE.

  • feminism
  • Africa
  • Pop Culture
  • Social Criticism
  • decolonisation
  • Afropolitanism
  • seven
  • Sensuous Knowledge
    • Sensuous Knowledge references and recommended reading
    • International
    • Sensuous Knowledge news
  • Other Books
  • The MsAfropolitan Philosophy Book Club @ Waterstones

A review of Netflix docudrama “The Social Dilemma”

March 28, 2021 By MsAfropolitan Leave a Comment

There are many ways to look at the word social – it can imply human characteristics (the social animal), events (social gatherings), and civic organisation (social politics) to give some examples.

In our times, the word social mosttypically has to do with digital connectivity and social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. 

Conversely, the least popular connotation of the word social these days is the sense of the term that connotes “sociable”.

This paradoxical decline of a sense of sociability against the growth of social networks is what comes to mind after watching Jeff Orlowski’s ground-breaking Netflix documentary-drama hybrid, The Social Dilemma, where some of the world’s leading tech gurus sound the alarm on their own creations. 

Among them are computer scientist Jaron Lanier who proclaims that social media has become an “existential threat”. Tim Kendall, former director of monetization at Facebook and former president of Pinterest, similarly says that his greatest fear about the same social media platforms he helped to build is that they are leading to “civil war”. Across the roster of knowledgeable voices who in the film ponder where social media is leading us, the same foreboding answer echoes: societal collapse.

Although the absence of sociability in social media is paradoxical, it is no accident. Yes, digital networking platformshelp to sustain friendships and forge new connections, but by large, social media platforms have become an impediment rather than a tool for harmonious co-existence.

Orlowski’s documentary does more than to critique the zeitgeist, however. It revelatorily lays bare exploitative profit models and surveillance capitalism that drive today’s digital technology. It exposes how the technology has become a fundamental part of a loop that together with climate collapse, inequality, prejudice and antidemocratic governance endangers the future of humanity.

The documentary makes a crucial intervention in this regard. There have been a number of books in recent years addressing the addictive nature of social media such as Deep Work by Cal Newport and Filling the Void by Marcus Gilroy Ware, but there isn’t much coverage of the larger global sociopolitical consequences of an antisocial social media. This makes Social Dilemma’s message radically urgent. 

In exposing manipulative tactics behind the platforms we utilise to conduct some of our most meaningful exchanges, Social Dilemma does not set out to offer solutions. And there is no panacea for ending the accelerating division caused by social media but “Collective intentionality”– a concept put forward by philosopher John Searle builds in his book The Construction of Social Reality might offer a bridge for the increasingly threatening gap between social media and sociability.

Collective intentionality is the capacity to not simply engage in cooperative behaviour but to “share intentional states such as beliefs, desires, and intention,” as Searle puts it. “[T]he crucial element in collective intentionality is a sense of doing (wanting, believing etc..) something together, and the individual intentionality that each person has is derived from the collective intentionality that they share.”

However, collective intentionality is not simply a conceptual idea; what it connotes is an existential necessity. (Searle refers to it as a “primitive phenomenon, meaning it is an intrinsic part of being human). As the saying goes, a problem well stated is a problem half solved. Through the investigative exposure of the problem, Social Dilemma makes collective intentionality seem far less impossible.

The review was originally publsihed in Esperanto Magazine.

Photo by Jon Tyson

Filed Under: Pop Culture, Social Criticism Tagged With: social dilemma, Social Media

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Feminism. Africa. Popular Culture. Social Criticism.

Hi! I'm Minna Salami, I'm a Nigerian-Finnish and Swedish writer and social critic, and the founder of the multiple award-winning blog, MsAfropolitan, which connects feminism with critical reflections on contemporary culture from an Africa-centred perspective. As a lecturer and keynote speaker, I have spoken at over 300 universities, cultural events and conferences, on five continents. I am the author of "Sensuous Knowledge: A Black Feminist Approach for Everyone - a collection of thought provoking essays that explore questions central to how we see ourselves, our history, and our world." (Harper Collins US) Read full bio

View My Blog Posts

Follow My social media

Visit Us On InstagramVisit Us On TwitterVisit Us On FacebookCheck Our Feed

Subscribe to my newsletter

* indicates required

An African Feminist mixtape

Essay: Oyalogy – A poetic approach to African feminism through Yoruba mythology

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

ESSAY: A brief history of African feminism

VIDEO: TEDxTalk – To change the world, change your illusions

VIDEO: TEDxTalk – To change the world, change your illusions

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

VIDEO: ARISE TV TALKING AFRICA INTERVIEW

Recent Comments

  • Evgen on There were no matriarchies in precolonial Africa
  • ทางเข้าเล่น joker on The challenge for western feminism in the 21st century
  • Schües on On Abortion
  • AneM on Polygamy in Africa has little to do with sex
  • Khalifa on Polygamy in Africa has little to do with sex

Sensuous Knowledge – Get the book (US version)

Sensuous Knowledge – Get the book (UK version)

Archives

  • August 2022 (4)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • January 2022 (2)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (5)
  • April 2021 (3)
  • March 2021 (4)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • October 2020 (1)
  • September 2020 (3)
  • May 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (2)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (1)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • March 2019 (4)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (2)
  • November 2018 (1)
  • October 2018 (2)
  • August 2018 (1)
  • July 2018 (2)
  • June 2018 (2)
  • May 2018 (2)
  • March 2018 (2)
  • February 2018 (2)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • December 2017 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (3)
  • August 2017 (6)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (3)
  • May 2017 (6)
  • March 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (3)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (3)
  • October 2016 (3)
  • September 2016 (2)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (2)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (1)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (3)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (3)
  • October 2015 (4)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (3)
  • July 2015 (2)
  • June 2015 (3)
  • May 2015 (4)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (10)
  • February 2015 (4)
  • December 2014 (3)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (4)
  • July 2014 (3)
  • June 2014 (3)
  • May 2014 (5)
  • April 2014 (4)
  • March 2014 (2)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (4)
  • October 2013 (3)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (5)
  • July 2013 (4)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (6)
  • April 2013 (3)
  • March 2013 (7)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (9)
  • October 2012 (8)
  • September 2012 (4)
  • August 2012 (6)
  • July 2012 (6)
  • June 2012 (5)
  • May 2012 (8)
  • April 2012 (7)
  • March 2012 (5)
  • February 2012 (4)
  • January 2012 (6)
  • December 2011 (5)
  • November 2011 (6)
  • October 2011 (6)
  • September 2011 (8)
  • August 2011 (6)
  • July 2011 (5)
  • June 2011 (5)
  • May 2011 (5)
  • April 2011 (4)
  • March 2011 (7)
  • February 2011 (6)
  • January 2011 (7)
  • December 2010 (5)
  • November 2010 (9)
  • October 2010 (7)
  • September 2010 (5)
  • August 2010 (4)
  • July 2010 (6)
  • June 2010 (5)
  • May 2010 (3)
  • April 2010 (3)
  • March 2010 (1)

more articles

A Historical Overview of African Feminist Strands

August 24, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 3 Comments

… [Continue Reading...]

On Abortion

August 23, 2022 By MsAfropolitan 1 Comment

… [Continue Reading...]

Privacy Policy

https://msafropolitan.com/gdpr

Copyright MsAfropolitan © 2023