Gabriel Almonte

The Black Mirror episode “Nosedive” was interesting, I felt like the episode had a lot of characteristics of today’s society while adding a futuristic part to it. The episode had a rating system, people were graded on their interactions with others and everyone could see other’s ratings. It led to a lot of issues in the episode because people didn’t want to associate with people with lower ratings because they were worried it would be frowned upon. I connected this to my experiences in social media because I see a lot of the same things on social media. People with a higher ratio of followers to following are referred to as “Instagram Famous”. These people often will not follow the people they speak to everyday in school or work on Instagram just because they aren’t “Instagram Famous”. I also noticed in the episode the main character wanted to raise her score and was told high ratings from people with high ratings will boost your score. That’s very common in the real world as well, people hold celebrities and people with authority opinions to a higher standard than others just because of their position. That’s why a lot of companies use familiar faces to brand their products because they know people will listen to them. Recently there has been a lot of controversy with this because celebrities need to get money to feed their family but often are advertising products that can be harmful. I was disappointed with the thought process of the episode, but I wasn’t surprised at all because these ideas are very common in the world today. Personally, I find myself stuck in the middle. I don’t want to pretend to be someone else, but I also don’t want others to look down on me. I will always be myself, but at times I must bring out parts of my personality that are better suited for the situation I’m in. For example, in job interviews people must bring out qualities that will show they are a good candidate for the job while wearing formal attire. On a regular day most people wouldn’t speak like they were in an interview and they wouldn’t dress like it either. I thought the rating system had flaws because some people may be a 5 to me and 1 to another person. People should just always have an open mind because there are a lot of good people and opportunities that are missed out on because of preconceived ideas.  

I got a look at what life would look like if individuals were held to a rating framework. Individuals frequently run over via web-based networking media as though everything is perfect in their life and you regularly don’t see the genuine them. I trust internet based life likewise prompts less important in personal connections in an individual’s life. Personally I have had actual encounters with “friends” who are always posting up on how great of a life they have and how they are always happy, and going out to new places. However they are actually the complete opposite if you were to see them in person. They are sad deep down and feel this emptiness that they try to fill this void with making people believe that they are “perfect”. Social media is a scary place and I would not want to live a life trying to please everyone around me and never being genuinely happy. In Nosedive individuals are giving a rating somewhere in the range of 1 and 5 dependent on your appearance as well as communications. This clearly makes a few people need to live as they do via web-based networking media, so they seem to be great and get 5-star evaluations. Individuals with scores more than 4 are viewed positively and are even qualified for advantages that others aren’t. I was anxious while watching this episode and figured something like this could be conceivable later on. Individuals are progressively getting to be fixated on games and social media frameworks that they can see satisfying feedback  from. On the off chance, everything else is held to a rating why not people? The main issue is who might speak to themselves honestly. Everybody would act counterfeit day in and day out and uneasiness and dejection would almost certainly be through the roof. It was particularly intriguing when the primary character saw what her life could look like if her rating was sufficiently high and she had the capacity to get the condo she needed. It completely assumed control over her life and she wound up fixated on hitting the 5 star point.

In the Black Mirror episode entitled Nosedive we learn of an alternate society where individuals are rated off of every encounter they have with one another. People are allowed to rate you up to five stars and each rating contributes to your overall score. This, in turn, contributes to how people treat you, as higher rated individuals are prioritized and reap more benefits. In this episode, Lacie Pound is a people pleaser who has made her life revolved around trying to achieve a high rating. Currently, her eagerness to increase her rate is higher than usual because she has to move and the place she wants requires a rating above 4.5 for a 20% discount. She finds an opportunity where she can increase her score fast, by attending an old friend’s wedding where the guest list is filled with high ranking individuals. In the end, through many tribulations, her score ends up being lower than it’s ever been and she realizes the unimportance of the ranking system.

Watching this episode related so much to today’s society, where everyone does what they think will get the most likes or friends. The common saying “Do it for the gram,” exhibits how people will make careless decisions just to get a laugh from others. People’s perception of you has become more important to society than your own personal happiness. I even fall into this category as online I tend to be more careful with what I post, in fear of others judging me. Whether it be making sure I post pictures that are “Instagram worthy” or that do not show my imperfections. Watching this episode was in a way sad and made me feel empathy for the people who feel as though they need to liked by everyone in order to be happy with their self.

In the episode of Black Mirror season 3 called Nosedive, I got a glimpse of what life would look like if people were held to a rating system. People often come across on social media as if everything is perfect in their life and you typically don’t see the real them. I believe social media also leads to less meaningful in person relationships in a person’s life. Therefore, I choose to not be on any form of social media but also because I’m just not a huge fan.
In Nosedive people are giving a rating between 1 and 5 based on your interactions. This obviously makes some people want to live like they do on social media, so they come across as awesome and get 5-star ratings. People with scores over 4 are looked upon favorably and are even eligible for perks that others aren’t.
I was very interested in this episode and thought something like this could be possible in the future. People are increasingly becoming obsessed with gamified systems that they can see immediate gratification from. If restaurants, schools, drug stores and everything else is held to a rating why not humans? The only issue is who would represent themselves truthfully. Everyone would be acting fake 24/7 and anxiety and depression would likely be through the roof.
It was especially interesting when the main character saw what her life could look like if her rating was high enough and she was able to get the apartment she wanted. It totally took over her life and she became obsessed with hitting the star mark.

Black Mirror season 3 ep 1 is called Nosedive. This episode is about a woman named Lacie Pound who lives in a world where devices are implanted in people’s eyes and people can share their daily activities and rate interactions they have with different people. In this society, having a high interaction rating could get you a good job, a better car or house. In an attempt to receive a discount for a luxury apartment, Laccie tries to get her interaction rating higher by being nice and outgoing. One day she is at the airport and she accidentally causes someone to spill their coffee. Her rating went down which prevents her from renting a new car, buying her apartment and going to her friend’s wedding. In the end, she goes to jail and has the device removed. Although I feel bad for Lacie because she goes to jail, I am happy that she does not have to worry about ratings anymore and is happy. She has found peace because she is no longer censored and can say whatever she wants.

This episode is very similar to today society. Today, people are obsessed about how other people think about them over the internet. Some people live fake lives posting stuff on social media to look like they are living a life they are not. The situation that Lacie got into can be compared to the reviews of a business. Good reviews on business can help increase customers or sales. Although a business can have good reviews, that does not mean that a customer can not have a bad experience with the business. In Lacie case, she had a high interaction rating but some gave her a bad rating after she spilled coffee on him.

People on social media are also obsessed with numbers. People feel better if their post gets a lot of likes. Personally, I feel the same way. I post on social media for all of my followers and friends to see. The more people see it and like the happier I am.

It was an overall a good episode reflecting on Human nature. Everyone judges others based on their ratings in the world of Nosedive. The main character wants to raise her ratings by attending her friend’s wedding, because many high rank guests is coming to the wedding, if Lacie can wow them with a moving speech, her rating is guaranteed to shoot through the roof. However, at the trip of attending the wedding, she gets in to lots of troubles unfortunately, and her rating drops to 2.8. And her friend doesn’t want her to come anymore because of her rating, and the MC goes to jail eventually.

It’s very similar to our society, they judge people by their rating system, we judge people by looking a person’s look, grades, achievements and income. I personally don’t use social media a lot, I use it mainly for communicating with my friends and family. Most of the people nowadays use social media just want to get more Followers and likes to satisfy their vanities, so they tend to upload their good sides, but not their bad sides. So, Social Society can’t really reflect one’s value.