I have never been a fan of black mirror, but previous to this class the episode we just watched was the only episode I had seen before. I found this episode to be intriguing because it is an easy to follow, but interesting episode that really depicts and almost scares us into seeing what our future could be like. In this episode the character, Lacie, is addicted to this “social ranking system” that is determined by the people around her. She gets herself confidence and status in life by relying on others around her and the few minute interactions she has. I feel that this represents a future that could be possibly for us. This is because apps like Instagram, Facebook, and snapchat have us rely on likes, and comments from others to gain popularity within the social media community. My friends and I are constantly comparing the amount of followers and likes we get on certain posts, showing that we care a lot about what others think and we base each other off of these numbers. Something else in our current social media world that came to mind when watching this episode was Uber. On Uber we rank the driver and the driver ranks us based on the interaction and behavior that goes on in the car ride. On a smaller scale, the episode basically emphasizes what we currently do on apps like Uber and spread it to an everyday interaction. I do not think we are that close to this kind of future society to the extent that the episode has it. I do think we will stay consumed in our phones as will the next generation, but I do not think that we will ever be openly ranking our interactions with everyone we come across. In certain ways, we do this in our society by being nice to people we want to like us and not as nice to people we do not care for as much, but it is done more secretly rather than openly like in the episode.
A social ranking system is basically what we see in the episode. It is a system that numerically puts people into a certain social class and they are treated accordingly. In a business insider article that I read, China has begun to rank citizens with a ‘social credit’ system. This article says that “people can be rewarded or punished according to their scores” and “a person’s social scores can move up and down according to their behavior.” That particular statement was seen in this black mirror episode when Lacie has a breakdown in the airport on her way to her ‘friends’ wedding. In another article I read on Future Trends it relates China’s idea to how this can turn our society into a Big Brother world. The article actually brings up the Black Mirror episode and says, China’s plan has created a global discussion and wide-spread criticism, and it’s been feared that it might lead towards a Big Brother world, as described in George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984”, or a future world in which people’s lives are dominated by social ratings as portrayed in Black Mirror’s episode “Nosedive”. Overall, the fact that China is starting this system changed my intial mindset about how our future would never become this. Because China is such a leading innovation country, if this idea goes well for them, it would be very possible that social ranking systems start to play a role in the United States.
Bibliography
Ma, Alexandra. “China Has Started Ranking Citizens with a Creepy ‘social Credit’ System – Here’s What You Can Do Wrong, and the Embarrassing, Demeaning Ways They Can Punish You.” Business Insider. October 29, 2018. Accessed March 06, 2019. https://www.businessinsider.es/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T.
Mäki-Teeri, Marianna. “Will We Accept Social Ranking Systems?” Future Proof. December 4, 2017. Accessed March 06, 2019. https://www.futuresplatform.com/blog/will-we-accept-social-ranking-systems.
Jaymi Zimmerman Abroad 