What Social Dilemma?

Issue 09

It’s never the thing.

That is to say, whenever we think a problem we have is because of some thing — the drugs, the mother-in-law, or in this case the internet itself and/or any combination of Google, Facebook, Twitter and their ilk as currently depicted in Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma” — it isn’t. Rather, it’s about intention. Every time. If you’re unaware, here’s Netflix:

“This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.”

Having watched the film last weekend, appreciative that a mainstream audience might become more conscious of some beliefs and behaviors they were not previously conscious of, yay, I detected two glaring examples of how it’s really all about intention.

First, the companies. Part of Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful;” Facebook endeavors to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together.” I grabbed those statements from the current websites of only those two companies, they’re not complete, but I’d say they’re representative of the missions and visions of social media companies. And for the record, I and my conscious business clients call corporate missions/visions intentions. Once these behemoth companies chose the path of being for-profit stock corporations — as was their absolute right — their missions/visions/intentions were all superseded by an intention to create wealth for their shareholders because that’s what stock corporations are compelled to do. Thus, it makes perfect sense that, as depicted in the film, employees of these companies would be directed to explore, create, and implement various products and services designed to seduce their users into giving over more and more of their attention because that’s how they make more and more money.

When we are conscious about what we are doing we are immune to addiction.

An updated mission statement, then, for either of them, would ideally look something like: “Our mission is to make infinitely more profit for our shareholders quarter after quarter, year after year.” They may expound: “We do it by offering free products and services to our users who, in turn, give us more and more information about themselves so that, in turn, we can direct our customers — also known as advertisers — to reach the people they want to reach in ever more efficient ways.” Let’s call that a rough draft.

Then, there’s we the people. I have heard more than I ever care to about social media addiction and the harm it is doing to individuals and societies. I’m not saying it’s not a reality or that it’s not serious, I’m only saying that social media itself isn’t the cause because it’s never the thing. A friend, colleague, and reader of this newsletter asked, “What is the giant, gaping hole that we are trying to fill with our addiction to social media?” It’s a good question but one that applies to any type of pre-internet addiction as well. That’s why I’d rather ask, in 2020, who is not addicted? Who is not a slave to their devices? Who happily uses social media with intention? What qualities do they possess that the rest of us could cultivate within ourselves? What do we, as a society, have to do to create a citizenry that is not so fragile as to become immediately susceptible to and consumed by a phenomenon that, for all intents and purposes, didn’t even exist fewer than 15 years ago?

The companies, each of which is capable of changing their intentions at any time — including, for some examples, by becoming benefit corporations and/or B corporations and/or by adopting a triple bottom line accounting framework — will otherwise continue to confound us because their stated intentions are different from their actual intentions. That’s on them. What’s on us is what’s always on us as people who desire to live consciously. It’s to ask, what is my intention? Why am I doing whatever it is I’m doing whenever I’m doing it? Why am I eating this ice cream despite my intention to give up dairy? Why am I on a date with this person again despite how empty I feel when I’m with them? Why am I maxing out this credit card in spite of my intention to get my finances in order? Why am I tending to social media right now?

When we are conscious about what we are doing we are immune to addiction. Intentions matter. They always will.