Social platforms have begun to play significant roles in people’s lives. People in society have become indirectly involved in each others lives. Social media users are now craving the need to become popular and they are achieving this by displaying viral content on their social media accounts. The quality of the content that current users post pertain to the methods of receiving the most praise. Users are no longer focusing on sharing their experiences with others. Authenticity has become rare and difficult to perceive on social platforms. The need for virality has led people into believing that there is a certain way they must act or perform. The episode
“Nosedive” from the show Black Mirror and the song “Emotionless” by Drake are both a commentary on the idea of “viral popularity” within the current time.
A cultural artifact that properly displays “viral popularity” is an episode from a Netflix original series called Black Mirror. The episode is called “Nosedive” and is about a society where people are able to rate each other, either after every interaction or by scrolling through one another’s social media account. The characters in this episode are fueled by their accounts and ratings. In this world, ratings and social media accounts are so critical to the lives of the characters that it holds the ability to impact their socioeconomic status. The main character, Lacie, is depicted as the perfect woman who has a good life. However, behind the scenes of her life, she is seen searching through her various giggles to display for the outside world. Lacie seems to be perfect through her social media account and her above average rating, but in reality Lacie is insecure and lonely.
“Nosedive” accurately describes modern internet culture, specifically the way people act on social platforms. It portrays viral popularity- the need for people to gain praise through social media and other lifestyle choices, and depicts the fabricated lives of people on social media. The episode is produced in a world with pastel colors (pink, purple, blue, yellow and green mostly), which could imply to the viewer that it is a perfect and happy world. However, this world is merely fabricated. The connotation of this pastel world could be seen in comparison with a person’s social media account. Typically, one’s social media page portrays highlights of their life, making a viewer of the page believe that the person has a perfect life.
In the beginning of the episode, the main character Lacie is seen doing her morning exercise routine, yet throughout the entire routine she is looking down scrolling through her social media account on her phone. This could portray people’s need and fixation on social media and the role that it now plays within one’s daily routine. Moving onto the next scene, Lacie is in her bathroom looking at herself, giggling in different ways to decide on which one would be considered the most attractive and acceptable. By doing this, it could imply that Lacie is trying to seem perfect in order to get people to like her or give her a high rating. This could symbolize people’s need to feel accepted by others and the inability to be one’s true self.
During this scene there is a close up on Lacie’s eye; Implemented in her eye is a lens which is connected to her phone. The lens allows her to see other people’s ratings and allows her to project the screen from her phone to her eyes. This scene establishes a sort of comparison with users and artificial intelligence. It could imply that users are now being controlled by other forces and no longer live or feel for themselves. It could also suggest that users are becoming less organic and more inanimate. The contact lens could also be taken into account for its actual purpose. Contact lenses are used to help people see and since the contact lens that Lacie is wearing lets her see people’s social media accounts, one could imply that it is used to fabricate the real world. Because the contact lens allows her to see other people’s ratings and accounts, it could also be preventing Lacie from seeing that the truth behind people’s lives. The contact lens is a barrier between Lacie and realizing the importance of being herself, which might be why she conforms with society’s norms.
After Lacie is finished getting ready she is seen having a conversation with her brother who lives in her living room. As the scene changes, the viewer is now given a complete look of Lacies living room. The color scheme has now changed from pastel pink and pastel blue to gray with hints of pink. The lighting is much dimmer and the living room is mildly cluttered. This color scheme gives off a connotation of indifference, which could represent Lacie’s brother as a person. Throughout their conversation, the behavior of Lacie’s brother makes him seem completely different from her; He seems more nonchalant and carefree. He is seen wearing boxers/sweatpants which is very different from Lacie who always looks neat and put together. Lacie’s brother could have been created to display a paradox. Her brother could also represent truth and realism. He could represent the one part of Lacie’s life which is not fabricated to satisfy society. This is important because everything else in the episode (clothing, houses, colors, people, values) is similar and holds no importance in society. Yet, because everything in this society is so similar, Lacie’s brother could symbolize the people who don’t want to conform with society’s norms.
As Lacie makes her way outside to a coffee shop, every interaction she has with someone follows with a rating. As they rate each other, they trade smiles and comments on each others posts. The viewer of this scene may think the atmosphere is happy and friendly, but, there is something about this scene that seems unsettling and uncomfortable. Although the viewer sees smiles and friendly faces, something about the atmosphere being too perfect lets the viewer know that it is not real. As Lacie waits for her coffee to be ready, the viewer can see her standing there with multiple other people. What is important in this scene is the people’s clothing. The clothing that the people are wearing in this scene are pastel colors and extremely plain. There is nothing about the clothing that the people are wearing that make them look different, other than the color. The pieces are different yet the same. By looking the same, this could represent how everyone in this community follows societies norms.
Lacie buys herself a coffee and one cookie from which she takes the perfect bite. Lacie then spits out, and puts the cookie down next to her coffee to takes a photo for her page. She then takes a sip from her coffee and makes a sour face, implying that she doesn’t actually like coffee. This scene could represent the act that people put on for their social media pages to make their lives look ‘perfect’ or more interesting. It could also be conveying the idea that people on social media no longer live for themselves. From these scenes one could imply that what people post on social media is not real; People only post content to get likes or in this case try to gain popularity. One could imply that authenticity on social media is now much harder to find.
The second cultural artifact that I chose was a song by Drake called “Emotionless”. In this song Drake raps about internet culture. In his song he states:
“I always hear people complain about the place that they live
That all the people here are fake and they got nothin’ to give…
‘Cause they been starin’ at somebody else’s version of shit
That makes another city seem more excitin’ than it is
I know a girl whose one goal was to visit Rome.
And all she did was post pictures for people at home.
‘Cause all that mattered was impressin’ everybody she’s known.
I know another girl that’s cryin’ out for help.
But her latest caption is “Leave me alone”…
I know a girl happily married ’til she puts down her phone
I know a girl that saves pictures from places she’s flown.
To post later and make it look like she still on the go.
Drake’s song is referencing social media and describing how people on social media don’t display their true selves. When Drake said “I know a girl that saves pictures from places she’s flown. To post later and make it look like she still on the go” he talks something that is often seen on social media platforms, specifically Instagram. This lyric could imply that people only show highlights of their life and not the real version. Drake’s lyric also accurately displays the idea of people using social media to post content that would make them seem more lively. Thus, relating to the lyric “I always hear people complain about the place that they live…’Cause they been starin’ at somebody else’s version of shit…that makes it seem more excitin’ than it is” which could express how toxic the need to feel validated by others has become for users. People are going out of their way to seem like they have the perfect life and as a result other users feel as though they will never be able to live up to society’s expectations. Yet “Emotionless” could be trying to explain that users fail to understand the fabricated lifestyle portrayed on social media. The lyric, “that all the people here are fake and they got nothing to give” conveys the difficulty of finding something authentic on social platforms. The title of the song “Emotionless” might have been Drake’s way of describing society’s loss of authenticity. People in society no longer do things for themselves anymore or for their own feelings, but more so to satisfy others.
The episode “Nosedive” on Netflix’s series Black Mirror and the song “Emotionless” by Drake both convey the desire for users to feel accepted and validated by other users on social media accounts. This need has become so strong that people forget the actual purpose of having a social media account, which is to share their experience with the world. Both also criticize social media and express the negative impact it has on users. The need for viral popularity has resulted in society creating fabrications. People are now going out of their way to make their lives seem more interesting than it really is, resulting in a loss of authenticity. The effects of inauthenticity on other users has become toxic because now users are constantly comparing themselves with the lives of others. This might be why younger generations now are associated with higher risks of anxiety and depression. Viral popularity has also begun to change society’s norms. People are doing crazier things and taking bigger risks all to entertain others and become famous. This might explain why there are so many controversial artists. The desire for viral popularity might also explain why famous artists say controversial things, or why clothing companies make controversial pieces. People are able to achieve viral popularity by acting different and creating fabrications of their life.