Introduction

As technology has progressed, the realms of social media have increased drastically, allowing endless forms of entertainment and opportunities for communication and interaction around the globe. Many individuals rely on social media platforms to stay up to date with their friends and family, represent themselves through their online profiles, as well as stay connected and interact with other members of society. As a result, people allow technology to become a routine aspect of their day to day lives, often depending on it for social interaction and self-esteem. This dependence on technology and its effects both good and bad have been portrayed through many forms of media such as television shows, novels, and even films. For example, the science fiction television show Black Mirror reveals several ethical issues about society through its satirical yet eye opening portrayal of society’s reliance and overuse of social media and online platforms.

Summary 

One prime example of Black Mirrors ability to reveal many ethical issues of society occurs through the episode “Nosedive” which dives into not only the addicting and engaging aspects of social media but also our desire as a society to fit in and gain social interaction. In the show, Lacie and everyone else around her are competing for more likes for their personal profiles which are digitally displayed on a ubiquitous app for anyone to access. Many aspects of each individual’s lives are based on their ratings, those with higher ratings receive more perks and benefits and social acceptance from their peers. For instance, those with higher ratings can live in better neighborhoods, go to exclusive locations, and obtain higher paying jobs (Fernandes et al. 2017).  Lacie turns her world upside down and frustrates herself constantly as she desires to boost her rating and goes through great lengths to do so. Lacie does not do this without reason wants to raise her rating in order to afford living in a prestigious neighborhood that requires a rating of 4.5 stars. Lacie’s attempts to boost her score become an addiction, she loses focus on whats important in life and still finds herself unhappy and lonely at the end of the day. This does not seem so farfetched as often in today’s society as we are often so consumed with our digital selves that we allow it to affect our emotions and feelings in the real world. Although Lacie could instead allow her genuine personality boost her ratings over time, she instead forces social interaction around her, and lets the bad encounters affect every aspect of her life. 

Immediately the reality of the world Lacie Pound lives in has the audience feeling a sense of familiarity. In essence Lacie’s world is not so different from the modern world today. In fact, just as Lacie Pound is judged and rated for her actions on a daily basis, each time someone posts or reposts something on social media in today’s day, it too is judged and viewed by other members of society and provided with feedback. The ubiquitous app used in Black Mirror can be viewed in parallel to social media websites in the real world such as Facebook which too allow individuals to have online reputations. Facebook and its immense success can be related back to not only to the millions of users that interact with the site but also the excessive amount of time users spends scrolling through their feeds (Wilcox et al. 2012). 

A majority of this time is not spent through individuals creating their profiles but interacting with and forming opinions of other users of the site. Just as the characters in Black Mirror form their own reputation and their judgements of others. Finally, Lacies obsession with checking and increasing her digital rating is no different than someone today browsing their own social media sites. Whether it be constantly refreshing one’s feed for a new notification, checking how many likes a photo or tweet received, or trying to gain more followers, the gratification Lacie experiences from checking social media is seen in every day life (Fernandes et al. 2017).  

Not only is Lacie’s obsession with her digital profile relatable to the audience but also the long-term effects that she experiences. Even though Lacie at times is able to boost her rating, at the end of the day she is left feeling unhappy and lonely. This mirrors that even in today’s society although someone may have thousands of likes and followers on social media, it does not change their life at home and who they are as a person. Although it may provide momentary satisfaction it is nothing long term. This episode also dives into the idea that many people will go to great lengths to achieve some sort of social standing, yet the effects and benefits of social media are temporary and only provide momentary boosts of happiness. Thus, Lacie herself represents one example of the extreme dependence and emotional attachment people place on social media and the interactions they receive because of it. People often scrutinize themselves and feel more or less worthy based on their social media status and ranking when in reality they should not let digital numbers and followers be a judge of who they are as a person. Although Lacie is able to put on a facade of her perfect 5-star rating life, her life in the real world does not reflect that of her digital self and she remains unhappy and unsatisfied.                                      

  To go more in depth, Lacie’s desire to boost her score as well as her inability to forget about her online reputation is not uncommon in today’s society. Lacie as well as the rest of the individuals around her represent many people in modern day that let online interactions affect how they feel about themselves and others offline. Essentially, despite the episode featuring many of Lacie Pound’s sudden burst of happiness as she watches her rating increase, the episode concludes with the takeaway that social media does not provide long term happiness regardless of the superficial manner in which it portrays someone. The episode actually reveals that social media can cause many downfalls. Lacie represents a body of individuals in today’s society relying on some sort of online gratification to feel better in the real world. However, articles such as “Understanding Generation Y and Their Use of Social Media” by Ruth N Bolton proves just how unlikely social media is to provide long term happiness. The article instead highlights the longer lasting consequences of exposure to technology at a young age and the problem for youth into today’s day. In specific, generation Y individuals, as the article describes as anyone born from 1981 and 1999 who were exposed to technology at a young age, often now rely on it for many aspects of their day to day life such as communication, social networking, entertainment, the list goes on (Bolton et al. 2013). 

Just  like Lacie Pound, these individuals find themselves struggling to put their phones down not fully understanding the long-term consequences that could await them. As the article discloses, since these individuals placed a high reliance on technology growing up, they are more likely than older generations to value other opinions of them on social media platforms and use online platforms to feel a sense of community (Bolton et al. 2013). Although not all of the aspects of social media usage are bad and do provide individuals with opportunities for connection and interaction around the globe, too much exposure and time spent online does have its consequences. In specific those individuals who spend too much time online have a tendency to publish too much personal information in order to obtain some sort of social approval. In addition to a loss of privacy, social media use can turn into an internet addiction resulting in a lack of time devoted to other important activities such as sleep, school activities and a variety of other offline activities. Thus, although the usage of social media itself is not detrimental, excessive amounts of time spent online can lead to neglecting other obligations and a compulsive behavior in checking social media platforms (Bolton et al. 2013).   

In continuation, Lacie Pound can serve as a modern-day example of the unhappiness and poor mental health that can arise because of the misuse or overuse of technology. Relating back to the episode, Lacie finds herself living her life to please others. At the end of the day she might receive approval from those around her, but deep down feels no satisfaction or happiness about herself and her own personal achievements. The world Lacie lives in becomes filled with so many people forcing themselves to be happy and treating others nicely that their society becomes one filled with hostility. 

They instead find themselves feeling jealous and bitter towards one another, everything becomes a competition and no one’s actions prove to be genuine. People are so focused on their digital selves that they forget who they truly are, simply competing to “out nice” each other. Lacie spends her time practicing facial expressions in the mirror, publishing the cutest photos on her profile and rating others around her perfect ratings hoping they will return the favor. Thus, the people surrounding Lacie neglect every other aspect of their lives in hopes to portray themselves a certain way to those around them. This does not seem so far-fetched from today’s society as people are often so consumed with social media, they begin to put too much pressure and set unrealistic expectations on themselves forming an addiction to their online platforms. Although not always a consequences, this addiction can lead to poor mental health resulting in depression, loneliness and social anxiety (Pantic 2014). More severe consequences of social media users can also result in a significant loss of money as those individuals might assume that the online community will be there to help them out in times of financial stress (Bolton et al. 2013).

The following video clip dives into the satirical ability of “Nosedive” to exhibit the acceptance and self representation many individuals in society wish to gain from social media. Creator and writer Charlie Broker summarizes the episode perfectly, as in the episode, “everyone is heightened and false, everyone is terrified of being marked down..its basically the world we live in”. As the society of Lacie Pound is terrified of receiving a bad rating and losing their social standing, this may seem familiar to the audience. The world of Lacie Pound is not so different then todays day. 

Conclusion

Therefore, although Black Mirroris a science fiction show that portrays technology far more advanced than modern day society, each of the elements and themes of the show, serve to represent many of the ethical issues present in today’s day. For instance, although the ubiquitous app used in Lacie Pound’s time is rather extreme and harsh, there are many social media platforms in today’s time that allow individuals of society to express themselves and form their opinions of others. Along with the consequences of the app, Lacie Pound exhibits both the short term and long-term consequences of social media. Her brief momentary satisfaction and high self-esteem due to positive ratings from those around her to her breakdown and loss of hope when she finds herself broken and in jail reveal many ethical issues in society as people place too much emphasis and emotion into online interactions. This application seems no different than things in modern day such as social media sites like Facebook which have the ability to do just the same to a person’s mental health. One might feel extremely happy and satisfied through a highly liked photo or positive feedback on a post yet overusing social media can lead to poor spending habits, a lack of social interaction in the real world and a loss of self-control.               

  In conclusion, Black Mirror uses the efforts of Lacie Pound to achieve a high social standing to reveal many of the ethical issues of today’s society. Although social media does have its benefits and opens up countless opportunities for communication and self-expression there needs to be limitations to the amount of time spent online. Lacie Pound found herself struggling to understand who she was due to the catty and superficial person she attempted to be and revealed many of the negative consequences of social media such as poor self-esteem and a decline in self-control. Thus, Black Mirror serves as a warning for the misuse of technology and presents issues that could be in the near future of society. 

Citations

Bolton, Ruth N., et al. “Understanding Generation Y and Their Use of Social Media:        Review and Research Agenda.” Journal of Service Management, vol. 24, no. 3, 2013, pp.245– 267., doi:10.1108/09564231311326987.

Fernandes, Bianca Berbel, and Dandara Corrêa Freitas de Medeiros. “Black Mirror: ‘Nosedive’   (S03 E01), Social Media, Reputation and Access.” InternetLab, 29 Nov. 2017,www.internetlab.org.br/en/opinion/black-mirror-nosedive-s03-e01-social-media-  reputation-and-access/.

Pantic, Igor “Online social networking and mental health” Cyberpsychology, behavior and socialnetworkingvol. 17,10 (2014): 652-7.

Wilcox, Keith, and Andrew T Stephen. “Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control.” Journal of Consumer Research, 40 , June 2013, pp. 90–102.