Can you review and respond to this comment. Refer to the prompt.

Share your experiences, optimism, and concerns about social networks and online platforms you participate in. Discuss the documentary The Social Dilemma and the takeaways you heard from it.

Like many people, I've had a complicated relationship with social media and social networking sites my entire life. I've always been a very private person I've dodged some of the more harrowing aspects of present day Facebook by giving it up early on. Algorithm and advertising aside, I felt way too much like I was in the spotlight. The constant pressure to "perform," both by looking perfect in selfies and by sanitizing who I was for distant relatives, made things feel way too miserable for me to feel tempted to keep checking in.

What got its hooks in me was social media sites that offered the opportunity to be more "anonymous (or feel like I was, at least)." Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter they all give you the opportunity share and collect images, create an art portfolio for others to look at, and find and collaborate with other artists. They also are all riddled with insidious little tricks to get you to stay on them for as long as possible, and thus be served with as many ads as possible too.

I watched The Social Dilemma with my partner who's in much the same boat, and we were amazed at all of the little techniques that were brought up in it that we didn't even notice had been working on us. These things were as simple as the implementation of endless scrolling, or the "dopamine hit" one gets when you pull down on the Twitter app and a whole new set of images appear. As artists it made us think about how much those "+Like" notifications on your work can be addicting in themselves, too. Validation that your art, photos, and writing hit home with other people can be energizing, but also dangerous when the entirety of your self worth and happiness are dependent on it. Factors like these have really made me reevaluate my relationship with Twitter especially. The documentary just made it all the more clear for me how truly destructive these patterns of behavior cultivated in us by social media sites can be for us.