The Dilemma of Using Social Media in the Documentary Film the Social Dilemma

This research analyzes the representation of social media usage dilemmas in the documentary film The Social Dilemma. The aim of this study is to ascertain how the film’s storyline is constructed and how it depicts the various dilemmas arising from social media use. Employing a descriptive qualitative approach, this study applies film narrative analysis to unravel the plot structure of the film and Michel Foucault’s Panopticon theory as a conceptual framework to understand the mechanisms of surveillance and control represented in social media. Data sources were obtained through in-depth observation of each scene in the movie. The findings indicate that The Social Dilemma portrays the social media dilemma through a cause-and-effect relationship in its narrative, where algorithmic systems create unconscious surveillance, personal data recording, and display manipulation. The central dilemma lies in social media’s power to imprison and control its users through notifications, content recommendations, advertising recommendations, and the “like” button feature. Consequently, the movie also highlights the importance of awareness and intelligence in social media usage.