Campbell (2009) speaks about our personal cyberinfrastructure. Lamb (2013) argues we need to reconsider how content is produced. Suler (2004) warns us about the dangers of online disinhibition. And finally, Jenkins (2006) discusses how we can create a culture of participation via blogging.
What reading spoke to you most when you watched “Nosedive”, (“Black Mirror”, episode 1, season 3)? Please explain your personal perspective.
References:
Gardner Campbell – “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure” (2009)
Brian Lamb – “The Bucket has a Hole in it, let’s plug it.” Abject Learning, Mar 7, 2013.
John Suler – “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” (2004)
Henry Jenkins – Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture (chapter “Blog This!”) (2006)
Gif credit: https://tenor.com/view/blackmirror-nosedive-gif-7197592
CMNS 130 - Intro to Digital Media (Winter 2024) 
What spoke to me most when I watched “Nosedive” is the reading “Personal Cyberinfrastructure” written by W. Gardner Campbell for several reasons.
In the first place, cyberinfrastructure is becoming one of the things that is common to have for people. In the article, it is mentioned that students have an opportunity to build a personal cyberinfrastructure so that they can be creative and well-prepared for this digital world. I think this kind of inclination is a great way to get used to the digitized world where people have easy access to Network service and are easily addicted to it. As Rachel Kelly did in Black Mirror, a large number of people on Social Media are trying to get high reputation by posting their own face, achievements, and the like. One of my friends is also addicted to X and purchased many expensive things for the sake of such a reputation. In my opinion, they would be happy at the first glance but not satisfied deep inside as the desire of getting reputation from people is boundless, like Rachell, such people devote almost themselves to reputation. Therefore, I strongly believe that providing students opportunities to know how to build and control it is fundamental not to be manipulated by digital media.
Second, while I think it is quite dangerous to use digital stuff as I watched an example in the video, I also think that we would be able to improve ourselves by taking advantage of it. Although Rachell failed to put effort into acquiring a reputation from people, she could make her life better in the middle of the video; She made an effort to cook some food, practice for speech, and so forth. If you make use of such a ranked system in your life effectively, it would help your life quite well. For example, I take advantage of the power of social media to motivate me to study harder; I everyday post what I did, how many hours I studied, and how progress I did in a test. Some people watching my posts give me comments and boost me, which is really helpful in my entire study life. At the end of the day, I would like to say that although social media has pros and cons, it really assists you to get through things a lot as long as you can manage the cyberinfrastructure you have.
In conclusion, I enjoyed watching the fancy virtual world where it might happen in the future. I think it is almost time to accept the era of digitalization, so I am going to have to learn cyberinfrastructure throughout this class.
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Overall, I thought Nosedive was interesting take on how social media can take a very interesting and damaging turn. Watching the episode actually made me quite sad to see the overall reliance that the characters had on how the rest of the world viewed them every day and at every moment. After watching the full episode and reflecting on it, some of the most disheartening moments were the scenes in which Lacey was practicing her smile in the mirror and where characters were sucking up to others just to boost their rating. Seeing how dependent each person in the episode their phone and constantly checking up on other people’s feeds (during every moment even while doing everyday tasks- which a lot of people still do) to be able to stay in their good graces and reciprocation when it came to the ratings. The reading that I think most stood out to me in relation to the episode was that of John Suler, his take on online disinhibition I think really fit this context. How sometimes people would give anonymous ratings highlighting the exact point he makes that while being behind the screen people feel able to act disrespectfully and push certain ideas or opinions without any consequences. I do think that idea can also go along with that feeling a lot braver and feeling a lot less empathy towards individuals of which may already experience critiques and such opinions publicly by others (inherently just cyber bullying to the extreme) and using people’s standings as excuses and ladders to support their behaviour and motives.
Suler, John. “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” CyberPsychology & Behavior. 2004, http://users.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/disinhibit.html
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The articles that spoke to me the most after watching Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” episode were Gardner Campbell’s “ A Personal Infrastructure and John Suler’s “Psychology of cyberspace and behavior”.
Gardner Campbell emphasizes how a personal cyberinfrastructure allows one to discover and craft their own desires and dreams. In order to this, it is important that individuals become their own makers/creators and take control of their digital lives (Campbell). This ownership of their digital identity allows students to fully take control and realize the opportunity provided by different mediums of media. Applying this to “Nosedive”, the characters did have full control of their personal infrastructure and the kinds of things they post to increase their ratings. However, their digital lives were dictated by societal standards, so they did not really have real ownership of their personal cyberinfrastructure. I think I and many others have experienced the pressures of posting aesthetically or socially accepted online posts to fit in and gain some form of validation. So, conforming to social media pressures begs the question of whether we really own and control our digital lives, and what the dangers of an online persona compared to our “real” life persona are.
John Suler responds to these questions by highlighting the dangers of disinhibition. Suler describes benign disinhibition where people may share “secret emotions, fears, wishes….. and show unusual acts of kindness and generosity” (321). The Lacie character displayed these characteristics in order to increase her ratings; not because she wanted to or particularly liked some characters. It was simply a survival tactic. She was not allowed to show her true emotions and her authentic self as that would have decreased her status and rating. This can be applied to social media influencers today, who may feel like they need to put on a persona to be liked and retain their influence. Conforming to what is expected on social media diminishes one’s true sense of self.
This inauthentic sense of true self is one of many consequences and reasons for disinhibition. One of the reasons is that people have a certain anonymity online and can disassociate their online and offline identity. In “Nosedive”, not much anonymity is allowed (unless you rate someone anonymously), but part of your rating is based on people knowing your online identity and activity. I guess we can say Lacie and the characters probably use their online identity to justify their “fakeness” and the front they have to display as a survival tactic to make themselves feel better, and separate from their ‘real” lives.
However, the line between real and not real is very thin and intertwined in “Nosedive”. Suler states that “…people with a predisposed difficulty in distinguishing personal fantasy from social reality, the distinction between online fantasy environments …. may be blurred”(323). In the episode, the characters’ lives and livelihood are dependent on their online persona, so it does become hard to distinguish what is real life and what is not. This can be applied to the different skits we see of family content on Tik Tok and influencers trying to capture “candid” funny moments, which has become hard to tell if its authentic or not.
Whether one is authentic or not on online, Suler states that there are constructed layers in our personality structure and a true self exists within all these different layers (325). Who a person is online compared to offline is a representation of their different layers and dimensions and we can be both shy and outgoing online and offline: “neither presentation is true” (Suler 325). I think owning your digital cyberinfrastructure is important, however remaining true and authentic to both your online and offline personality is also equally important.
Work cited
Campbell, Gardner – “A Personal Cyberinfrastructure.” Educause, 4 Sept.2009, https://er.educause.edu/articles/2009/9/a-personal-cyberinfrastructure
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behaviour.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326. The Online Disinhibition Effect
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The reading that most interested me after watching the Black Mirror episode was the online distribution effect. I noticed the impact the show had on this psychological effect. This is seen with the integration of star ratings for interpersonal communications. You can see the contrast with our current online orientation as people can still have online anonymity. This leads to the so-called inhibition effect because people act differently when they are not communicating with someone in person. You can see how the current orientation we have is not ideal and leads to real-life consequences for individuals. But you can also see the horror and dystopian world that can present itself when people’s online and physical lives intersect. You can see the tragic consequences of this in China with their social credit system. Where people who do not follow party ideology are rated low on their QR code in their WeChat app and from then on everywhere and everything they do people know that they “have antisocial behavior or counter revolutionary thought “. to further touch on the Black Mirror episode now with the implementation of essentially a social credit score, you can see the societal impacts on the way people interact. It almost exclusively becomes artificial communication between everyone in hopes of a good score. We may have a lot of hatred for the effects of disassociation and disinhibition, but in reality, it may be the lesser of two evils. Further the Black Mirror episode shows the implementation of a social credit score, you can see the societal impacts in the way people interact. It almost exclusively becomes artificial communication between everyone in the hope of a good score. The issue quickly becomes what psychological impact will this have on individuals living in this reality? The first question that comes to mind is whether artificial interactions with everybody actually increased social harmony. Being as we are Canadians, the instinct may be to say yes, but in general, the issue that will present itself is that no one will have true interactions with anyone and therefore what is the worth of those interactions. Another concern is, of course, the psychological impacts on people who become enthralled in this form of social communication when their social credit score goes down, they are more likely to have breaks in their psychology due to the fact that they are now considered by everyone around them a terrible person. Another interesting interaction was between the main character and the truck driver. You could see the psychological response from someone who no longer has any reason to care due to terminal illness, or whatever may go on in their personal lives, which may lead them to live a more fulfilling life by being their true selves. Out of all the characters in the episode, the one character that seemed to be most at peace with themselves was the truck driver, which is at odds with the social credit score which she had her near the lowest out of all of the outside characters. At the end of the episode, you can see the main character have a psychological break when she becomes convinced that it’s important to tell the truth at all costs. It ends up destroying her entire life and putting her in prison. In conclusion, with the development and technology and the increased research in AI. I am left with a question. Will this happen in our world? We see in our lives how important social media is to our social well-being and how we see fake lives presented on the Internet. My closing question is this all worth it?
Link to source: https://dc.ca.talis.com/okanagan/bundles/659471c67a2b67000a375644
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I have a strong feeling of the exaggeration of the processes happening nowadays when watching Black Mirror “Nosedive” episode. To my mind it is in tight connection with the article of John Suler named “The Online Disinhibition Effect” differentiating the online and offline behaviors of people.
Being inspired by Freud, Suler outlines that “personality structure is constructed in layers, that a core, true self exists beneath various layers of defenses and the more superficial roles of everyday social interactions” (324). The true Lacie persona from “Nosedive” is deeply hidden, being under pressure of the social environment and demands of contemporary society. It’s vital for her to play social superficial role for everyday living and functioning. The most disappointing for me are the pathetic goals of Lucie and her surrounded friends – people dream about luxurious life with diamond rings and beautiful houses, work office on the higher floors. No difference from today. Even advanced future cyberspace could not kill the presence of social inequality and miserable material values. It’s a pity.
What is true is that it’s impossible to stop progress. Nowadays I bet it’s difficult to find a person in the entire physical world with no virtual identity, no online presence in cyberspace. Being present on the Web is an integral part of our daily routines, like connecting to online banking or wallet, ordering airline tickets, or following your friends with “Like” or commenting in chats. When we make online purchases at Amazon, we check ratings of a product and read the reviews. It matters, it influences the decision for the purchase. However, most of us do not even think that there are cyber companies influencing the ratings of products. They can really push it on top or sink with bad reviews to squeeze a certain seller or a product from the market. So, what’s the level of trust in all those online reflections? Applying this to “Nosedive”, the characters are victimized by their personal infrastructure and online personas dependency. To explore further on Suler’s findings, that’s the stage of loosing of self, when “distinguishing personal fantasy from social reality … may be blurred” (323).
Further on Suler advances the idea that “different environment may facilitate diverse expressions of self” (325). Time flies, technologies have been developing, people have absolutely the same dreams just with implementation through other tools and methods. It makes me think that humans will stay humans in the future with their unchangeable within the times desires, feelings, and life expectations. From this angle the future does not look so exaggeratedly scary as in “Nosedive” episode, at least for me.
Works cited
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behavior.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326.
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The readings that spoke to me the most after I watched “Nosedive ” are Campbell (2009) and Suler (2004).
Connecting the reading to “Nosedive, every character in the episode built their personal cyber infrastructures, they know the posts they uploaded to increase their ratings in order to maintain who they want to be identified as.
Campbell encourages that every student must be guided to build their own personal infrastructure, to embark on their own odysseys which will enable them to reach their respective goals. In building a personal cyber infrastructure, students not only would acquire crucial technical skills for their digital lives but would also engage in work that provides richly teachable moments ranging from multimodal writing to information science, knowledge management and social networking (Campbell).
Suler discussed the dangers of benign inhibition, where people reveal secret emotions, wishes, fears, personal things about themselves and show unusual acts of kindness and generosity (321). In the Nosedive episode, Lacie Pound showed the character how she increased her ratings just to survive, she was always self-conscious and unable to act in a relaxed and natural manner.
I believe that providing students with the opportunity to learn how to build on their own is paramount, but it needs to be authentic and remain true to who they are.
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The reading that spoke to me the most after watching the black mirror episode “Nosedive”, was that of Brian Lamb and his article “The Bucket has a Hole in it” (2013).
Firstly, the Black Mirror episode focused on a future world in which people rate each other on a 5 star scale. They are barred or allowed different things in society based on their rating. We followed Lacie Pound as she attempted to get to her ‘friends’ wedding and subsequently nosedived her rating.
The rating system they use in the episode reminds me of a dystopian social credit type system, akin to China’s alleged system. In this system in the show everyone is commodified. The system has made everyone into a product and if they don’t follow along they lose certain privileges.
This relates to Lamb’s writing for me because Lamb focuses on how content produced shouldn’t be commodified. He basically says that we should be appreciating content for its attributes, not just the fact it is content. In this he also says that content online should be open and led by the creators, they should have free range to create and do what they please on platforms without needing to conform to certain corporate rules in order to survive.
In the episode, we see the trucker lady who shows Lacie that non-conformity is freeing. This is primarily how the reading and show relate.
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When I watched Nosedive (Black Mirror series episode on Netflix) which shows the influence of social media has been so great in coming times and how it affects a person’s character. The episode has Lecie who is the main character and in her world people rate each other like on a social media app something which decides how the nature of the person is and everyone can see that rating also.Amongst the other readings I found Suler’s (2004) reading most apt because he warns about dangers of Online Disinhibition. He identifies some factors which contribute to Online Disinhibition which are-
1. Dissociative AnonymityPeople feel less accountable for their actions online because they can hide their true identity or instead create a new portfolio type. Which makes people more dishonest or manipulative so that they can get more rating or get rid of negative ratings. (Suler, 2004, p. 322.)2. Dissociative ImaginationPeople separate their online communication from their real life as they see it as an online game or different fantasy world. “The effect of this dissociative imagination surfaces clearly in fantasy game environments in which a user consciously creats an imaginary character but it also can influence many dimensions of online living.” (Suler, 2004, p. 324.)3. Minimization Of Authority People feel less akward by the role of conduct of social media platforms. “People are reluctant to say what they really think as they stand before an authority figure. A figure of disapproval and punishment from a high dampens the spirit.” (Suler, 2004, p. 324.)
And according to me these factors explain us why Lacie (the main character) in the episode 1 of season 3 and how their online behaviour works and in the end how it affects the character’s character. For an instance Lacie is too much into getting good and better rating everytime by everyone she meets, but what happens is very disheartening like she gets negative rating from most of the people and these negativity spreads soo much that at the end she goes to jail.I think that Suler’s reading makes us understand the social effects of Online Disinhibition and how it creates the society very terrifying like the one in “Nosedive” is. And talking about the episode particularly it shows us the importance of being honest and respectful online which results in positive and happy life afterwards if one remains honest and respectful.
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When I watched Nosedive (Black Mirror series episode on Netflix) which shows the influence of social media has been so great in coming times and how it affects a person’s character. The episode has Lecie who is the main character and in her world people rate each other like on a social media app something which decides how the nature of the person is and everyone can see that rating also.Amongst the other readings I found Suler’s (2004) reading most apt because he warns about dangers of Online Disinhibition. He identifies some factors which contribute to Online Disinhibition which are-
1. Dissociative AnonymityPeople feel less accountable for their actions online because they can hide their true identity or instead create a new portfolio type. Which makes people more dishonest or manipulative so that they can get more rating or get rid of negative ratings. (Suler, 2004, p. 322.)2. Dissociative ImaginationPeople separate their online communication from their real life as they see it as an online game or different fantasy world. “The effect of this dissociative imagination surfaces clearly in fantasy game environments in which a user consciously creats an imaginary character but it also can influence many dimensions of online living.” (Suler, 2004, p. 324.)3. Minimization Of Authority People feel less akward by the role of conduct of social media platforms. “People are reluctant to say what they really think as they stand before an authority figure. A figure of disapproval and punishment from a high dampens the spirit.” (Suler, 2004, p. 324.)
And according to me these factors explain us why Lacie (the main character) in the episode 1 of season 3 and how their online behaviour works and in the end how it affects the character’s character. For an instance Lacie is too much into getting good and better rating everytime by everyone she meets, but what happens is very disheartening like she gets negative rating from most of the people and these negativity spreads soo much that at the end she goes to jail.I think that Suler’s reading makes us understand the social effects of Online Disinhibition and how it creates the society very terrifying like the one in “Nosedive” is. And talking about the episode particularly it shows us the importance of being honest and respectful online which results in positive and happy life afterwards if one remains honest and respectful.
Suler, “The Online Disinhibition Effect.”, 2004, https://dc.ca.talis.com/okanagan/bundles/659471c67a2b67000a375644
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The Nosedive episode is a good insight of what is actually happening in todays world. Everyone is so driven on what is happening on social media, how many people follows them, how many likes they receive and falls into this trap that takes them away from reality.
Now not everyone is indeed like this but most are. We get feed in this false information and hope that everyone out there is more happier than us. We forget to live our reality. Social media and influencers have changed the idea of coming forth as healthy and sustainable into this negative light. So many teens and young adults have fallen into this trap. People have been diagnosed with eating disorders and depression in the recent times and the numbers are atrocious when compared to looking back just 20 years.
Nosedive episode does a wonderful job in portraying that the social status of each individual depends on their likes they receive from others. The people with lesser rating is looked down upon. Everyone is faking their happiness to come across more successful and what hide their inner feelings and emotions.
Its important to see what is real and what is fake. There is so much false information circling the internet nowadays that it is hard to distinguish between them. We have to learn to take the positive info from what is out there and be content with what we have around us. It is important to strike that balance.
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Some years ago, we might have watched the episode “Nosedive” from the series Black Mirror and considered it mere since fiction. Similar effect were seen with other futuristic movies had when they were released, leading us to think “That could never happen”. However, it did happen, and nowadays, if you are not active on social media you are seen as the odd one. We have become so accustom to social media that we no longer give it a second thought. The reading that most resemblance the plot from this episode is “The Online Disinhibition” (John Suler 2004). It depicts how the protagonist and the society in general are only valued according to the rating they receive. It is just like when we read about a teenager that is depressed because he / she did not received the amount of likes he/ she was expecting. We have made it common practice to be agreeable, and we see as aggressive when someone speaks out his / her mind or says something that we might find hurtful. Similar to the episode “Nosedive” the truck driver lady, despite working hard to achieve the amount of stars needed to safe her husband’s life, found herself cast out of society when she expresses her frustrations. It’s as if she suddenly lost all value just because she lost some stars. We have become so used to fulfill other expectations, to evaluate and reevaluate every single situation. There are so many that, perhaps, spend to much time playing a role (Dissociative Imagination, Super 2004) that we forgot what really makes us “us”. Only by looking for genuine connections and embracing authenticity we can break free of our online personas and value genuine human interaction.
Work cited
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behavior.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326.
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I found that Campbell’s reading spoke to me most when juxtaposed against the themes of Nosedive’s pastel satire of digital insecurity. The digital infrastructure of academic institutions is flawed and limiting at its foundations, and I believe Nosedive speaks to the harm a flawed system can continue to have on its users, even as a hyperbolic representation of the concept.
Of particular note to me was Campbell’s assertion that academia failed to properly contextualize the potential an entirely new and unexplored medium has to offer. In his own words, “Print is not advanced calligraphy. The web is not a
more sophisticated telegraph.” To equate the functionality of mediums does more than limit both, it can negatively impact or reinforce harmful and repressive principles.
Campbell vouches for a personalization of web infrastructure, and encouragement of Students to establish and continue expanding full, dedicated servers for their own personal projects (portfolios), importing and exporting of resources, and to better understand the “design and function of their digital environments.”
Most pressing of all of Campbell’s notions is the fear of lost potential, and never truly being able to realize the artistic potential of the digital medium.
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The article that spoke to me the most after watching Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” episode was John Suler’s “The Online Disinhibition Effect”.
In his book, Suler writes: “People are reluctant to say what they really think as they stand before an authority figure. A fear of disapproval and punishment from on high dampens the spirit. But online, in what feels more like a peer relationship—with the appearances of authority minimized—people are much more willing to speak out and misbehave.” (324)
This quote perfectly describes the cyber world in which the characters of the series live. The laws of this world seem to remove responsibility from the decisions made and make everyone conditionally equal through “democratic” grading of each other. However, in all grades, in most cases, the heroes make it without looking each other in the eye. The scene in the office where Lacie gives 5 stars to the guy with 3 stars demonstrates this well. In that scene, we see the protagonist hesitating about what rating to give him, because in the virtual world, her conversation partner has a low rating and therefore she can do the same, but in the real world she came face to face with him and he bought her a cocktail. However, after that guy moved away from the character, her colleagues began to secretly give him low grades.
This kind of toxic behavior is typical of the virtual world, where it is possible to remain anonymous or invisible. I often see bloggers talking about harassment or bullying from people whose profile says “happy mommy of three angels and loving wife”. I take it to mean that such people are awakening their second sub-personality that they carefully hide in the real world. In a way, the Internet allows them to release their accumulated aggression and live their “ideal” life. People need a safe place to express their anger. The end of the series illustrates this well when Lacie and her cellmate start fighting and releasing all the stress they’ve accumulated from years of pretending and the constant pressure of societal norms. If such a space existed in the universe in which the protagonist lives, I’m sure she wouldn’t have gone to prison. In our world, such a space could be, for example, a psychologist’s office, a gym, or just a private space at home. And all these places are not on the Internet.
References:
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behaviour.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326. The Online Disinhibition Effect
“Black Mirror”, season 3, episode 1 “Nosedive”. Director Joe Wright.
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Out of all of the readings the one that spoke to me the most was “The Online Disinhibition Effect” By John Suler when I watched Nosedive. In his article John has figured out 6 factors that created his online Disinhibition; dissociative anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimization of authority. The factor that really reflected Nosedive was minimization of status and authority. In Nosedive the app that everyone used was in a sense based on status and authority. Since people rated each other on the first interaction and how popular they are in society on the 1-5 scale depended on how popular they were in society. For example Lacie’s friend Naomi had a rating of 4.8 because she was rich, beautiful, poised and admired by all. Which meant that Naomi was of high value and had a big social status because of the extravagant lifestyle and “perfect life” Lacie wished she had. In my opinion Nosedive really reflects how society is in real life. On social media I see celebrities, influencers and even acquaintances I follow fabricate the perfect lifestyle. I see these people post themselves on extravagant vacations, different parties, exclusive events and just posting highly edited selfies. Nobody knows what happens behind the scenes. Influencers and such have people having their makeup professionally done, they have the top of the line cameras and some of them specifically hire social media people to post pictures for them and know what pictures to post and not the post the create the perfect social media feed. What it comes down to is that they have created a fake sense of reality that makes people feel like they don’t have enough or feel like they are worth it because they think that’s how their life should look like when that’s not the case. Social media can make an individual go crazy and lose their identity which in the end of Nosedive Lacie completely lost herself.
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The reading that spoke to me most when I watched “Nosedive” is “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” The reason is because people in Nosedive can not distinguish their real life from the online world; in other words, in this world, their reality is linked to online as a whole. John Suler suggests some warnings about online disinhibition effects such as dissociative imagination, Invisibility and so on. But, the world in Nosedive goes beyond his warnings because the real world is occupied with the online world. In the current online world, we can find some opportunities to change behavior or show different aspects of ourselves because the online world is separated from the real world. Furthermore, according to Suler, in this world, personality is constructed in any environments which surround us as well as in layers. So, personality is constructed in such a complex way that some personal factors are mingled with each other. But, in Nosedive, their personality is consciously framed by themselves because their personality or behavior have a large impact on their reputation from 0 to 5.
I feel scared of this technology because in the current technology, we sometimes show our thoughts that I can not frankly talk about even with friends in the real world. However, if technology develops like the world in Nosedive, we will always care about others too much; accordingly, in the future, online could create our “personality” and technology could control human beings. After watching this episode, I assumed the current social media such as instagram is similar to this story; because people sometimes pretend to be “nice, amazing or beautiful” in order to get “likes”, which sometimes disguise people’s identity and personality. The story, Nosedive, may be our future if people can not take Suler’s suggestions into account.
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Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” tells the story of a society fixated on a contrived rating system, in which one’s social standing is arbitrarily established. These ratings are determined based on scores received from encounters one has with other members of this society. The higher one’s score, the more benefits one is granted, and the greater “likeability” one has. This perceived status directly reflects one’s quality of life.
Examples of present-day parallels to this concept include modern-day systems such as China’s Social Credit System. In simple terms, this system allows individuals to receive scores based on factors such as tax records, criminal history, online activity, and interactions with others. In the Social Credit System, higher scores enable access to certain privileges such as purchasing discounts, priority healthcare, better employment opportunities, and enhanced social standing.
The article that resonated with me the most after watching Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” is John Suler’s “The Online Disinhibition Effect” (2004). The article outlines the idea that individuals often times behave differently online than they do in person. There are a few factors that play into this, the first being a sense of anonymity and disassociation one possesses due to being behind a screen. Individuals are more likely to express themselves freely and voice their opinions without the fears of facing immediate backlash or confrontation.
In equating one’s worth on the opinions and “ratings” of others, one may ultimately become disassociated with their true selves, basing their entire self-worth on others’ perceptions of them, even if it does not align with who they really are. This can also lead one to lean further into their “online persona”, a completely different version of themselves that exists solely online, not present in their day-to-day life.
Another factor that is present in both pieces is the reduction of inhibition. In Nosedive, the protagonist became so obsessed with the desire for a high rating that they acted in a way that did not align with their true selves, in pursuit of validation from others. In comparison, the Online Disinhibition Effect states that due to the feelings of anonymity and lack of perceived consequences, one may reduce their inhibitions online resulting in behaviours not present in real-life situations.
In summary, I believe both pieces shed a light on the impact that social status currently has on society, as well as the difference between an individual’s persona online and in person. Whether it be the evident social hierarchy present on various social media platforms, or modern day rating systems such as the Social Credit System in China – a world where receiving a standing score based on the perceptions of others feels more like an impending reality than a distant future. Furthermore, as our reliance on social media and concern for the opinion of others grow, it’s likely that people will become more uninhibited online.
Suler, John. “The Online Disinhibition Effect.” Cyberpsychology & Behavior, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, pp. 321-326.
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When watching Black Mirror Season 3 Episode 1 “Nosedive” the reading that spoke to me the most was “The online Disinhibition Effect” by John Muller.
This reading talks about everyone’s desire to act in different ways when it will benefit them. It talks about how when people feel pressured to act in certain ways, they will follow if the consequence if real enough to them. This causes people to be disingenuous about themselves, just like we see in “Nosedive” where people try to act different from their true selves in order to raise their rating. In the episode there are a few times where some characters have to stop what they’re saying and control their natural responses in fear of upsetting someone and causing their rating to drop.
This is also a nice parallel to real life where people control what they say specifically based on who they are around and what situation they are in at the moment. While we don’t have a score that grades us we do view our social acceptability as a measurable value and in a lot of circumstances we put far too much importance on this made up measure. It shows us a possible future in which this made up value is no longer just something we imagine, but an actual social factor that plays a large part in every aspect of our lives.
References:
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behavior.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326.
“Black Mirror”, season 3, episode 1 “Nosedive”. Director Joe Wright.
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I think a very interesting theme between “Nosedive” and “The Bucket has a hole in it, let’s fix it” is the relation between the chase for a higher social score, and the notion of how closed, third party educational services are being used by universities “in pursuit of raw numbers” (Jim Groom).Just like the desire for a better social score – or judgment based upon it – ends up distracting from and preventing a lot of true human connection, the usage and desire to use big fancy educational platforms with wacky features and huge budgets distracts from the real monetary benefit (that is, the benefit that it costs much less) as well as other advantages that come from using open platforms that could be collaboratively used by many institutions, together.In the same vein, just like it would be difficult to convince the society depicted in the Black Mirror episode to relinquish usage of the social tracking system as they find it beneficial, it would be hard to get educational institutions to significantly change their infrastructure to support cheaper, open platforms.Another thing these both share is a lack of privacy, though for entirely separate reasons. In Black Mirror, there is this conceptual “panopticon” (which is a word I learned from Ethics class this morning :P) in which people behave differently, and likely not like themselves, due to the fact that they assuming they are always being watched and judged. This is a major subject that is often considered and opposed by those in the privacy and anti-surveillance worlds. In the educational sector, the big companies act as most typical large tech companies do, in which the user data is often sold or stored improperly, resulting in a different form of privacy concern. Both share an unfortunate sense of coercion into using these services, specifically public pressure in the Black Mirror episode, and the requirement to use such services in order to participate in class in the educational sector.
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“Nosedive” shows what is happening to current professionals and the impact of technology in the market. The plot of the episode focuses on Lacie, who is a young woman that lives in a society where everybody gets a rate based on each of their actions. The social status in this environment is achieved with this rating. In this context Lacie is constantly worried about her rating because she wants to improve her lifestyle and moves to a better neighborhood, but she needs a better rating. Suddenly, her best friend Naomi, from high school, invites her to her wedding as the made of honour. Naomi has a higher rate than Lacie. Consequently, Lacie sees the weeding as a unique opportunity to improve her rating. However, everything fails and at the end Lacie lost her rating. She ends at jail saying whatever she wants and feels because she must not be scored by anybody to keep any rating.
On the other hand, Campbell in his article “A personal Cyberinfrastructure” said, “To get there students must be effective architects, narrators, curators and inhabitants of their own digital lives. (…) Without such fluency, students cannot compete economically or intellectually, and the astonishing promising of the digital medium will never be fully realized”
Then if we compare the theme in “Nosedive” we could understand that professionals in the plot are a kind of influencers who develops contents based on their daily experiences. This industry according to Campbell must be led by professionals in a wise way to achieve a better income. Then we could infer that now, almost every professional should know how to get an space in the market. If the market’s products and services are promoted mainly by online and social media through cyber professional profiles and websites, it is not possible to think that every professional must know how to sell her / his professional and personal brand in the cyberspace by developing contents to engage audience, customers and earn money.
Likewise, Brian Lamb in the reading “The Bucket has a hole in it, let’s plug it” explains that developing contents that engage audiences is a natural skill. It is most evident to young generations who post contents for nothing and sometimes thanks to these free contents somebody or some corporation increase its profits. However, the contents and its creator does not receive any money from the companies or people who earned profits thanks to them. In that way, Lamb agrees with Campbell when specifies that professionals should know the worth of cyber contents, how to develop them and their benefits.
According to Brian Lamb “universities should be managing sophisticated syndication networks that enable individuals to manage and control their own work.” Consequently, there will be a better and fair market to influencers, professionals in general, and contents.
To sum up, Nosedive and both readings are focused on the market and how it is changing because of the channels and technological tools that we use today to promote sales.
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To me the most interesting scene in Nosedive was the very final one, where Lacie and the man in the direct opposite jailcell to her take turns hurling insults at one another. The scene starts with Lacie glancing at the man and instinctively trying to interact with his social rating but to no avail, and as the scene progresses despite the rather nasty words the two of them share the backing Orchestra swells, uplifting Lacie and the viewers spirits. It perfectly reflects when the truck driver told Lacie to “take off the tight shoes” and possibly for the first time in Lacie’s life not constrict herself to some arbitrary score. It reminded me of what Brian Lamb said about the music industry and Radiohead in his article. Radiohead was offered million dollar deals to produce content for a variety of companies who were likely not the biggest fans of the band or their music, but rather the numbers it produced, and with “major indie artists” sharing that the streaming services don’t even pay the artists who make the content for them all that well. Companies only care about the numbers and will most definitely never change their ways, and sadly this results in a majority of artists both big and small will be laid at the waysides to be forgotten about by the studios who are supposed to support them, yet much like Lacie and her cellmate or the trucker before them when YOU don’t let those numbers dictate your life you’ll often be a whole lot happier. This holds weight in our real world too, with indie musicians still able to thrive by reaching out to people who share a genuine care, people who want to live life for what it is and make the most out of it.
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As I looked through the readings, there was one that really related to me, but also tickled my brain in a different way after watching “Nosedive”, and that was “The Online Distribution Effect” by John Suler
As someone who spends a fair portion of time online, typically in video games, I notice this effect. Imagine after watching an NFL game, the entire post-match was just the winning team insulting the other and acting crudely in other ways; it just wouldn’t work. So when you watch “Nosedive” you can see almost a transition period of people almost fully becoming those online personas. Every time someone gave a review they had that hidden wall of the app giving the review, not them. After each interaction ended, you couldn’t see or really interact with them anymore, so you didn’t have to see just how that rating affected them. The aftermath would not include those “… subtle signs of disapproval and or indifference [that] can limit what people are willing to express.” (Suler, p 323)
If this transition was 100% finished you would see the people in “Nosedive” actively being crude during the interaction, because you would be just a number, so anyone below you wouldn’t even matter. I think this effect would also follow in reality, should a similar concept be produced. The part that really makes us human, the love, the caring, the relationships we form, would lose its meaning, and with that, we would lose our humanity.
Suler, John. “Psychology of Cyberspace & Behavior.” The Online Distribution Effect, vol. 7, no.3, 2004, pp.321-326.
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There’s Honesty in Anonymity, well, So I believe!
This week’s readings were interesting. The whole matter of cyberinfrastructure being more than a network but the innovation and creativity of individual learners, was a new perspective for me, Campbell (2009).
Lamb’s (2013) argument on reconsidering how content is produced was valid. It’s alarming how originators of content or content creators are being treated. I was unaware that many of these innovators are producing on minimal financial returns.
After watching the Black Mirror series “Nosedive,” the most compelling reading for me was John Suler (2004) Psychology of Cyberspace & Behaviour: The Online Disinhibition Effect. When I considered what it would be like to speak and act as freely as I want online, it felt scary, yet thrilling. Though I personally hate to hurt people’s feelings; I sometimes have an inclination to act incognito on social media. I think it would allow me to be completely honest without societal labels, attack, and judgements – totally unknown. I would not exhibit the toxic disinhibition effect, but rather, the benign one.
As I watched the series, I further realized the damming effect social media can have on one’s quality of life when one decides to give these media that type of authority, power, and control. I believe that if one allows him/herself to be validated by others, then one will not truly live for oneself, but for others.
I can only imagine the suspense and exhilaration of having dual personalities – living incognito with ‘online’ and ‘offline’ lives. However, the flipside to this, as witnessed in the movie, is that it places a significant amount of pressure on an individual to “live up” to the expectations and social status quo of others.
My concern with this episode was that social media influence/rating determined the mobility and ability to transact business in the economy. Suler (2004) said “people say and do things in cyberspace that they would not do in the face-to-face world. However, in the episode, the subject acted in the reverse. Lacie, as she was called, actually did things in the face-to-face world that she wasn’t accustomed to doing in her personal life.
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After watching“Nosedive”, (“Black Mirror”, episode 1, season 3) I am actually concerned about the current status of our society, and how technology, in which social media as a large part of it, affecting us. In “Nosedive” we can see how the main character trying to improve her personal socioeconomic status with different ways, how the so called “ratings” affects her life, and its quality of life. It is quite shocking and concerning how their lives are being affected by these offbeat “social media”, just like us with our current lives. Although the social media we currently have does not have as big of an impact as the rating scheme in “Nosedive”, we can see social media has its ways to affect us. For example, “content” creators such as TikTok users taking videos of doing these so called “challenges” where they do dumb stuff, risking themselves due to the possible chance of self-harm, or social media users fake everything to act as a “role model” or a façade to put on themselves gain popularity, fame. Campbell (2009) speaks about our personal cyberinfrastructure, and I think I can relate to his points. Our daily lives are a part of our cyberinfrastructure. In fact, I think it has a crucial role on affecting our behaviors. While crafting our cyberinfrastructure, we would receive different comments on it, which ultimately affecting the way we build our own infrastructure. Just like the main character, we would get attached to the internet life, and try to gain fame and reputation from it. While doing so, we would be controlled by the digital media.
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