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“If you’re not paying for the product, then you’re the product.” A wake-up call on the
insidious cultural and societal impacts of social media, the documentary-drama hybrid “The
Social Dilemma” comprises interviews of former key players in the social media industry,
who explain its monetization mechanism denoting the idea of “surveillance capitalism”,
where companies use the data of people’s online activities to build algorithms that keep
people engrossed in the recommended contents.

The film argues that social media has transformed into a manipulation and deceit-
based system and elicits “slight, imperceptible behaviour changes”. The profitability of
widespread fake news and extreme contents has created a misinformation economy and
increased polarisation, sowing chaos, division and destabilisation in the society.

The film certainly served as a powerful wake-up call for Senior Middle One students,
shedding light on the alarming consequences of today’s digital age. The importance of being
a responsible digital citizen that should always make informed decisions about our online
interactions as well as safeguarding our mental well-being in this ever-evolving digital
landscape has also been projected.

( Photo 2: The Social Dilemma Attention Manipulation )

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