I'm a little late to the party to give a review of The Social Dilemma, the dramatised documentary that has been a significant talking point among people I know over the past month or so since being released on Netflix. If I had to give a pithy review, though, I'd say it was a well-meaning, if a little one-sided view of a topic that should be a real source of concern to everyone, particularly those with children. As far as the drama goes, nice concept but a bit overblown. Although I must say, Pete Campbell as the internal string-pulling triplets is something that will live long in my nightmares.
The reason I'm writing about it, though, is its timing. It followed a major realisation last week: that I'm an addict.
Not to red wine, my friends will be surprised to hear (although consumption has increased even more than usual since the end of March).
No, I'm addicted to LinkedIn. It feels dirty to say it, but there we are. At least it's out there now.
The sad thing is that I'm not the only one out there who's deluded themselves into thinking that there's no downside to immersing oneself in the 'professional networking' platform. "This isn't a social network," we're told, "it's a necessary part of managing your career, launching a new company and building your personal brand".
Well, I hate to break it to you, but this is complete bOllOcks. Here's why (and please understand, I'm directing this at myself as much as anyone else - writing it down is merely replacing my internal monologue!):
It is a social networking platform, using the same mechanics to interrupt and absorb your time as the likes of Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
Unless used with caution, its value is counterproductive. Scrolling through a literally neverending feed containing updates about other people's lives - work or otherwise - doesn't replace you doing something yourself.
The concept of a personal brand is a red herring. Yes, a good reputation is essential in business, but you get this from doing great work. For long-lasting success, you're better off concentrating on working hard, acting with integrity and taking advantage of your unique skills to demonstrate value to your clients and employers consistently.
So what's the solution?
Generally, if you're addicted to something, you somehow get yourself off it, right?
Well, here we arrive at my dilemma, which mirrors, I suppose, the point of the documentary: do the positives of using LinkedIn (and other people may switch LinkedIn out for their social network of choice) outweigh the negatives?
On one side, a highly efficient way of broadcasting information about your product and service combined with a powerful algorithm that finds the right place for it to land.
On the other, a vortex of information that causes you to persistently fall prey to that very same algorithm, which can simultaneously sap your productive time and manage to evoke feelings of promise that you're saying something that people want to hear.
[Design by Jure Tovrljan]
We're likely all familiar with the understanding of how dopamine delivers a momentary hit that boosts our feelings of self-worth when someone reacts positively to something we post or share - it's human nature to keep on wanting to feel it.
The opposite, of course, is also true and this is one thing The Social Dilemma does manage to illustrate well - when you don't receive positive feedback or, heaven forbid, someone says something negative - you feel disproportionately miserable; a manifestation of loss aversion bias perhaps.
None of this is to say I have a problem with LinkedIn as a business, or that I resent the fact that they've built such a compelling and engaging product.
While I recognise that morally nefarious practices do take place at some of these tech behemoths – wilfully ignoring the proliferation of misinformation and profiting from its ability to drive engagement, for example – it's overblown to suggest they have an evil plan to control us.
Problematic occurrences that arise on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, for example, are, I would suggest, a reflection of Silicon Valley's growth-at-all-costs culture, as evidenced by Facebook Vice President Andrew Bosworth's infamously leaked memo a couple of years ago.
Since I'm cognisant of the way this technology works surely I, therefore, have the agency and free will to decide if and how I use it?
The critical question is how to take advantage of the 'professional networking' tool without it impacting on my productivity?
Here's how I'm going to do it.
Allocate a maximum of 10 minutes to LinkedIn at the beginning and end of each working day, only. I'll set a timer, so I don't lose track of time.
Only use LinkedIn to send or respond to messages and comment on interesting posts based on a small set of keywords - this will avoid the danger of the infinite scroll.
Change my notification settings, so I only see essential updates.
Revert to the policy I followed before my LinkedIn problem reared its head: switching off entirely from all devices at the end of the working day. I'll leave them in another room, so I'm not tempted.
Remind myself and anyone else who'll listen of the value of the 'Five F'in F's'.
I think this is a battle I can win.
Have an enjoyable, social media-free weekend, everyone.
Ollie
Any Other Business:
Nir Eyal has a complicated relationship with the addictive qualities of social media and other tech platforms that are monetised by user engagement. He was one of 75 students in what became know as the "Facebook Class" after its graduates went on to work and design products at Facebook, Google and Uber, amongst others.
Taught by BJ Fogg, founder at Stanford's Persuasive Technology Lab, the class contributed towards the 'formula' behind some of the most successful tech products in the last 15 years. After sharing this knowledge with the world in his 2014 book, Hooked, Eyal followed up with Indistractable in 2019; an acknowledgement of the potentially damaging effects of over-use of these platforms and a guide to 'un-hook'. He emphasises that there is not one single cause of distraction - whether devices of social media - and the importance of creating positive systems to manage your time effectively.
This week, he also shared this fascinating article on how we learn to cope with technological change. Well worth a read if you have a spare twenty minutes.
With references to Beyonce, Batman, Dora the Explorer and cutting-edge psychology, there's something for everyone in this BBC article about how having an alter ego can help empower you.
Here's another excellent report from McKinsey about the changing workplace, including this interesting visual on how hybrid working might look.
And finally, a piece on how COVID has changed work patterns for good in the UK