Daisy Dewsnap reviews The Social Dilemma

Our regular columnist, secondary school student Daisy Dewsnap, gives her take on 'The Social Dilemma' - which you can watch on Netflix.

This riveting, thought-provoking documentary addressing the modern day issues we face as a society regarding technology and our mobile phones, is a huge eye-opener and a wake-up call for many of its viewers. 

It helps to sound the alarm and spread awareness in order to warn us about the dangerous impacts that all of these new-found social platforms have on both our mental and our emotional health.

It explores issues centred around the idea of how large social networking companies are able to manipulate and exploit their users by using algorithms that encourage dependency to their platforms, as well as how invasive they are on our privacy and personal lives. 

There are also sections which focus on a family which is slowly being ripped apart, their relationship with one another struggling to survive, purely due to technology and its addictive tendencies.

There are currently 3.5 billion social media users around the world, which equates to about 45 per cent of the population. 

After a survey was carried out, it became known that the average Facebook user has 155 friends on the platform but would only trust four of them in a ‘real life’ situation. 

When these statistics are put into proportion, they’re quite overwhelming and really remind us just how huge the internet is!

I also found that after watching the documentary it had prompted me to question the effects of social media on our world and my own online habits. 

It really makes you think and the messages portrayed through it will stick with you because of how powerful they are.

This is definitely a must-see for absolutely anyone who uses the internet or owns a mobile phone! 

It will make you rethink many things that you had previously just taken for granted or accepted as ‘the norm’, and it will also provide you with a new perspective to the world of social media.

Daisy Dewsnap