The Terror of Social Credit

No Off Button

Black Mirror is one of my favorite series on Netflix for a multitude of reasons. It takes small elements of our technological lives and blows them up to the most extreme cases. I think this show is genius because even though they are extreme representations of things, the extreme isn't ever too far off from reality. This not the first time I have watched the horrifying episode "Nose Dive" from the Netflix series, but I think it was more frightening this time around. This episode follows a young woman who is striving to gain social influence because of a rigid social credit system that is so ingrained in the society that it is even in each person's eyes. That is one of the most terrifying elements about this social credit system is you can never turn it off. I look forward to times where I don't reach for my phone or have to scroll social media feeds. So, I'm not sure how stable my mental well being would be if there was no off button.

Estimated Arrival Time: Soon

The other terrifying element of this episode is that it isn't too far off from the reality of social credit. When I think of social media influencers, I imagine them constantly striving to reach the most amount of people and cross paths with people who have more influence than them to expand their social circles. When the fun is taken out of social media and it is used solely as a business tool, the constant striving to reach more people is a universal goal. Much like the consultations that Lacie in the episode has with the social credit people, businesses go to social media professionals to help build their steam of content and social influence. 

Close to Home

This episode hits very close to home for me because I have to use social media in this way for my job. I manage the social media for the organization Erace The Hate, which means that I'm constantly trying to expand our audience and reach the most amount of people possible. I also always hope that someone with great social influence would stumble upon the brand and promote it because it gives us a boost in influence on social media. For example, my boss and his daughter were on the set of a Drake music video on Miami and we got a picture with Drake and his young daughter. This picture and the association with the very influential Drake helped boost us to a larger audience.

China is Ahead, But At What Cost

I already had a vague idea of China's social credit system that was established in 2014 and continuing to expand to potentially nationwide. However, I did not know that the reality of the "Nosedive" episode was materializing so quickly in China. While their authoritarian government allows for systems like this to be introduced much easier, I think that we aren't too far off of it happening here in the United States. I think this because of the generations below me and how they have been born into a world with social media already present. This would make the transition of social media to social credit much smoother. But oh do I wish with all my heart that we would leave the credit system to the banks.