What Stood Out
Nosedive was an interesting commentary on the ways in which social media and society’s obsession with being well-liked online can be self destructive. One thing that stood out most was that the ratings happened constantly throughout the day with every person one met. Whether it was the cashier at the coffee shop, the woman you ride up the elevator with in the morning, or your family members, the people in this imagined society were constantly being judged. On some level, we do the same in our day-to-day, we just don’t see it. What the show exaggerated on even further was that these constant ratings, unlike real life, directly affected social class, work life, social circles, housing, and more. A less meaningful encounter or moments of frustration could be met with immediate low ratings by anyone from strangers to siblings. Because of this, mostly everyone strived to appear happy and perfect all the time to avoid a drop in their average rating. Problems arose in cases of realness, like when Lacie experienced the very common real-world issue of flight cancelations. Breaking her usually perfect character and showing true emotion caused her rating to go down and severely altered how she would then live her life. Being judged day-to-day may not affect us in the real world, but in the imagined world of “Nosedive,” it could dramatically change your life.
Similarities to Real World Developments
Though the example presented by Black Mirror in “Nosedive” was an extreme case, there are apps on our phones that resemble on a smaller scale the type of ratings system that Lacie and everyone in her world uses. Platforms like Uber and Lyft, apps that connect drivers with those who need a ride, use a rating system out of five stars and both drivers and riders are rated by each other. After a ride takes place both parties score each other based on their experience and, just as in “Nosedive,” the rating are averaged together to create one score. The purpose is so drivers and riders both know what to expect of each other, though if either has a low score they can be penalized. In the show the disadvantages are more outright and extreme, but in real life riders may not be accepted and drivers may not be able to work if their ratings are too low.
The technology in the show seemed to directly mimic another real app, Alipay. This Chinese app introduced a feature that gives users a “credit score.” However, this score doesn’t just rank users based on their consumer patterns, it focuses on social behaviors as well. Like the technology in Nosedive, the credit-scoring app Zhima Credit boosts or lowers your score based on who you are friends with. If you have friends with higher scores your credit score will rise, and on the other hand if you are friends with someone ranked lower, your score will be lower. Having a high credit score makes many amenities more accessible, and the same could be said of the technology in the show. If Lacie’s average rating was just a bit higher she could receive a significant discount on the apartment she wants. When using Zhima Credit, one could be rejected for certain housing options based on their score. Additionally, surrounding oneself with highly rated social circles appeared to be important when using the app because being associated with higher rated individuals is assumed to mean you are also a well rounded person. Lacie wished to be rated well by Naomi’s highly rated friends in order to raise her overall average. The users of Zhima Credit basically do the same. The similarities between this app and the show are concerning, and it almost seems as if this app and the Zhima Credit scoring system could become more like “Nosedive” in the near future.
Challenges to Regulation
Trying to regulate some of these technologies can present many issues. When app users rate others on Uber, for example, it is understood upon creating the account that rating is a crucial part of the process in order to ensure interactions are safe and both parties will be comfortable. Additionally, drivers need to know if riders will be rude or disruptive while they are driving, and riders need to know their drivers are safe. For technology that is more prevalent in all aspects of life and affects living situations, like Zhima Credit, trying to regulate this could cause problems financially.
As technology that rates its users become more frequent in everyday life, it’s interesting to look at how they affect society and the problems that could arise.
