Seven Digital Deadly Sins: A collaboration between the National Film Board of Canada and the Guardian.
Pride, lust, greed, gluttony, envy, wrath and sloth – the seven deadly sins have been with us for hundreds of years. Today’s digital world brings with it a whole new set of moral dilemmas. From the greed-driven world of the high frequency trader to the envy of the anonymous troll, from the Instagram food bore to the dad who e-spies on his kids, this interactive documentary looks at how technology is reshaping our beliefs and everyday lives.
Most of us still struggle with these new challenges: is it OK to download every movie you watch for free? Are you coming across just a little bit pleased with yourself on Facebook? Is your addiction to property websites (in particular, modernist pads in the Hollywood Hills) fuelling powerful feelings of envy – and since when did Twitter become so much more interesting than your flesh-and-blood, right-there-across-the-table-from-you boyfriend?
The Seven Digital Deadly Sins pulls together the confessions of seven familiar faces (novelist Gary Shteyngart, folk musician and activist Billy Bragg, comics Josie Long, Ophira Eisenberg and Bill Bailey, actress/comedian Mary Walsh, and writer and broadcaster Jon Ronson) alongside 20 first-person stories from a wide range of contributors (a secret Twitter star, a hacker, a couple whose wedding invite went viral). Some of these stories are extraordinary; many of them admit to behaviour we all recognise – from Bragg’s admission that he loses entire days watching YouTube fail videos, to Jon Ronson’s guilt (and a little glee) at having flamed enemies online.
