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'The Social Dilemma's' Jeff Orlowski on Illustrating the Amorality of Social Media Algorithms

May 2021 🇺🇸 Gold Derby

In this Gold Derby 'Meet the Experts: Documentary' panel interview, Jeff Orlowski describes how conversations with Stanford-affiliated technologists in 2017 first exposed him to insider criticism of social platforms' design and set him on the path to making The Social Dilemma. He explains that recommendation algorithms are, in his framing, indifferent to truth or social benefit and optimize only for engagement, and discusses his choice to dramatize that idea through a scripted family storyline in which competing algorithmic personas vie for a teenager's attention. Orlowski also addresses his own reduced platform use since making the film and expresses cautious optimism about growing bipartisan interest in tech regulation. TechKids Foundation cites this interview for Orlowski's account of the film's origin and design choices roughly a year after release.

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CITATION

Eng, Joyce. "'The Social Dilemma's' Jeff Orlowski on Illustrating the Amorality of Social Media Algorithms." Gold Derby, May 17, 2021.

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