Firstly, when something is referred to as a dilemma, especially a “social dilemma,” the question is, where is the dilemma. Throughout the 94 minutes of the documentary, we could not find a single part that looks at the positive aspects of the Internet. Therefore, this cannot be called a dilemma, but a monologue of monotonous ideas. If at least one positive feature of the Internet had been presented in the documentary such as the possibility of connecting, the availability of information – we could have engaged in a real debate about the problems that have been presented.
Second, the statistics presented throughout this documentary are very worrying. The documentary cites the findings of a study done by MIT, which shows that the rates of anxiety and depression in young people have exponentially increased since 2011. Specifically, hospital admissions due to self-harm increased by 62% in girls between 15 and 19 years, and 189% in girls between 10 and 14 years. The documentary also states that the statistics are similar when it comes to suicide – when comparing 2000s and 2010s respectively, suicide among girls (15-19) increased by 70%, and among girls (10-14) by 151%. Using these statistics, the documentary makes a direct correlation between these statistics and the use of social networks.
Throughout the 94 minutes of the documentary, we could not find a single part that looks at the positive aspects of the Internet. Therefore, this cannot be called a dilemma, but a monologue of monotonous ideas.
The reality is that there is no valid research that proves that more girls are committing suicide because of the negative effects of social networks. The fact that such statistics exist, indicates that the societal state of awareness has increased and that more attention is being paid to various factors that affect mental health. Thus, it cannot be deductively concluded that the increased use of social networks has resulted in the increase in the rate of self-harm and suicide – it may be one of the factors but there is no direct correlation.
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