Whether you agree with the views in it or not, this movie is still worth watching, especially for those of us who live on the Internet.
This film is actually the feeling of a group of Silicon Valley tech giants about the technological applications they created. Everyone knows that technology brings progress, but at the same time, the negative effects are becoming more and more noticeable. Slowly, everyone found that we are controlled by the mobile phones we use every day. Cell phones can take up most of our lives, know what we’re talking about, alienate families, generate social events, and even trigger racial tensions and rig elections.
There is a point of view that answers my long-standing doubt: how does free software on the Internet make money?
If you don't pay for the product, you are the product yourself. The real product is the subtle, imperceptible change in your behavior and opinion that begins to slowly change. Internet products seem to be free, but they are actually trying to get our attention. Is the product free? No, the money comes from the advertisers, and the vendors sell our attention to the advertisers. Manufacturers want to be able to guarantee that as long as they advertise, they will be effective. They want this certainty. In order to obtain this certainty, they need data, they need to understand what we want, and then push it accurately.
Maybe it's because I don't watch documentaries very much, but it's kind of novel to see this model. Even in the documentary, there is also an interpretation of a sitcom. Three "AIs" monitor ben's mobile phone usage habits and generate push content for him. When Ben put down his phone for three days, he carefully selected and sent him the news of his ex-girlfriend's love, so that he "resurrected" and picked up the phone again. When the screen is zoomed out, you can see that everyone is being manipulated in a small house, controlled by an information cocoon. There is also an impressive little story in it - the Pizzagate incident. The narrator can't tell its origin, but it is probably circulated on the Internet. There are many stowaways hidden in the pizza shop, which is a criminal base. When the topic became more and more popular on Facebook, Facebook's recommendation system started recommending the topic to general users. Suppose a user opposes a vaccine or believes in some conspiracy theory, and Facebook's recommendation system will show them Pizzagate. The final climax of the incident was when a man burst into the pizza shop with a gun and said he wanted to rescue the children in the basement, and was caught because the pizza shop didn't have a basement at all. This is a very helpless event. In fact, fake news spreads 6 times faster than real news in the online world. This is no longer something that people can control now, but the result of the evolution of algorithms. But the opinion of the Silicon Valley bigwigs is that it's the business model's fault, not the technology. The original intention of the tool is good, but it is later used by different destinations. For example, a like should simply spread love and appreciation, rather than optimizing the algorithm to allow accurate advertising. I also think I've been paralyzed by fragmented information lately. Unconsciously swiping the screen, and hahaha, is a short-lived pleasure, but turning off the screen will leave me with nothing.
My point has always been that the phone should be a productivity tool for people, and people who use it should have conscious control over it, not addicted to it. So, set the screen time, whether it's a phone setting or a mental setting. Useless and addictive apps should be turned off at the right time, and they should return to the real world at the right time. Don't turn on the phone if there is no urgency, and go to bed earlier.
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