How Entrepreneurs Can Harness The Power of Social Media for Good

Technology doesn’t harm, but your uneducated relationship with tech does. Here is how entrepreneurs can use social media to their advantage.

“Is there a problem and what is the problem?” a narrator asks his subjects, as they stare off into the distance against an ominous score. Some clear their throats, while others stumble with words or offer half-smiles in response.  

You get the sense that something both sinister and monumental is about to be revealed on the screen. 

Like everyone else, I began watching the recent Netflix docudrama film, The Social Dilemma with eager anticipation. Most of my friends and colleagues had recommended it to me over the past few weeks, and I finally set some time aside to view what had received so many mixed reviews.  

In the film, you see former employees of Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other similarly large platforms, speak about the negative impact of tech giants on our behaviors. It’s a darkly entertaining documentary that hooks you with its sensationalist play-acting — using dramatized segments and even a villainous algorithm to drive home its point.

It’s meant as a cautionary tale about how social media is eating at the foundations of society, yet halfway through, it felt like I was watching just another episode of Black Mirror, rather than a nuanced take about our modern condition. 

By the end, I felt both drained and demoralized. Not because I bought into the distorted view that these platforms are pure evil. But because despite all the hoopla surrounding the film, it ended up being a simplistic assessment used to stoke more fear and outrage.

While some loved it, many criticized the docudrama for showing technology as if it’s a completely bad thing. 

Here’s the thing: it’s not. 

“The Social Dilemma discounts the notion of using social networks creatively or critically, sometimes to the point of condescension,” writes Adi Robertson in a story for The Verge. “But it’s easy to find people thoughtfully engaging with these apps, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has turned screens into some of the only safe public spaces.”

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