Final Project- Excerpt #2

Not only is social media a determinant of self-esteem for some, it has created a social hierarchy based on comments or ‘likes’ on one’s picture or video. A lot of times, people post content just for a means of obtaining as much feedback and positivity as possible. These pictures that are normally posted are only a glimpse at the high points of their life; no one wants to post a depressing picture or video because there will be less of a response from their ‘friends.’ In the Black Mirror episode titled “Nosedive,” this metaphorical sense of social media determining self-worth is demonstrated. In this episode, everyone is a compulsive user of a social media that consists of ratings. All individuals have a rating of zero through five which is determined by how people rate each other based on their interaction, content posted, or simple random anonymity. This social media is connected to permanent contact lenses that are inserted into the eyes, and they allow for everyone to see each other’s individual ratings simply by looking in their direction. When one posts on this social media, they can be uprated or downrated based on how much someone really ‘likes’ the content. Lacie, the protagonist, wants to move out of her current apartment to a more prestigious apartment complex. However, this is unaffordable to her, but she is told that if she brings up her overall rating to a 4.5, she will be eligible for a twenty percent discount. As the episode progresses, Lacie becomes too obsessed with trying to raise her rating and ends up going crazy. Ironically, people end up lowering her rating because she had lost her sanity. This idea of having higher self-esteem based on many social media likes and lower self-esteem based on few social media is demonstrated by Lacie. She starts the episode very joyful, with her 4.2 rating, and ends the episode in jail miserable with her rating that was nearly zero. Additionally, today, people who have ‘better’ social media are looked up to as role models. In the Black Mirror episode, Lacie tries to connect with as many high-rated people as possible because she wants to be them. In a similar sense, people feel as though they have more power if they are more popular, or if they receive more ‘likes’ compared to their friend’s post. This has created a social hierarchy; people who do not receive many ‘likes’ are looked down upon and they look up to the people who receive vast amounts of ‘likes.’ Of course, this is not always the case. Those who have become too obsessed with social media live as though they are in the digital sphere.