In today’s society, The experience between users and social media, is associated with a negative connotation. This connotation is often touched upon by various sources such as TV shows and music artists. Social media has began to erase the authenticity out of the life of users and integrate a sense of falsity into their lives. This insincere lifestyle that is often portrayed on social media, is heavily referenced through various different mediums of art. An episode from the show Black Mirror on Netflix, and the song “Emotionless”, by famous pop artist Drake, both make a commentary on the dependency of users to feel socially accepted and validated by other users. The two artifacts also illustrate how users of social media become accustomed to conforming to society’s idea of perfection, and fail to appreciate what they already own.
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 alternate 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 society, ratings and social media accounts are so critical to the lives of the characters that it holds the ability to impact their socioeconomic status. For example, the main character, Lacie, who initially had a 4.2 rating sought to reach a 4.5 (out of 5) rating in order to receive a discount for a luxury apartment. Lacie is depicted as the perfect woman who has a good life. However, one of the scenes show Lacie performing various giggles in front of her bathroom mirror. Possibly to see which one will make her seem pretty and likeable. This depicts insecurity and her need to be socially accepted by 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 relies on the opinions of others. This was depicted in a scene where she was trying to rent a car but the worker would not let her. In the scene, Lacie raised her voice at the worker which led to him giving her a look, indicating that he thought she was crazy, then Lacie settled down and gave him a 5.0 rating. As she tried to please him, it seemed as though he did not care.
“Nosedive” accurately describes modern internet culture, specifically the way people act on social platforms. It portrays viral popularity- the desire 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 futuristic society with pastel colors (pink, purple, blue, yellow and green mostly), which often symbolize characteristics of peacefulness, tranquility, happiness and warmth. For example, the characters always greet each other and are extremely nice to one another. However, this world is merely fabricated. Anyone who is viewing this can tell that it is extremely unrealistic, and a bit uncomfortable to watch. Since most people know what the real world is like (harsh and full of ups and downs), watching this episode makes the viewer want to see more and explore the truth of this society. The connotation of this pastel world could be seen in comparison to a person’s social media account, as they are both similar. A person’s’ pictures on social media are an equivalent to this societies colors and ratings. They both convey a message of perfection and would make any outsider believe what is being seen on the surface.
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. 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. During this scene there is a close up on Lacie’s eye; Implanted 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. After Lacie is finished getting ready she is 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.
The beginning of the scene portrays the need and fixation that people in this modern society have on social media and the role that it plays within one’s daily routine. It’s evident to say that in the second scene Lacie is trying find the laugh which is most likeable, probably to get people to like her or give her a high rating. What the directors tried to display were people’s need to feel accepted by others and the effect of social media. Social media impacts users by preventing them from being their true selves. The lens implanted in Lacie’s eye establishes a comparison between users and artificial intelligence. It suggests that users are being controlled by other forces and no longer live or feel for themselves. What Black Mirror is trying to describe is that as social media becomes more dominant, users are becoming more like robots. Robot’s have no feelings and no true purpose in life except to satisfy the needs of humans. The role in which ratings play in this society illustrates the lengths users will go through to remain on top of the online world; Even if it means that they lose their authenticity in the process.
The lens also suggests that users are becoming less organic and more inanimate. If you take a contact lens into account for its actual purpose, you find that contact lens’ are used to help people see clearly. Since the contact lens that Lacie is wearing is meant to show her other people’s social media accounts, one could imply that the lens is being used to fabricate the real world. This is ironic because the lens is doing the opposite of what it’s supposed to do. Because the contact lens allows her to see other people’s ratings and accounts, it’s also preventing Lacie from seeing the truth of her society. Since we know that social media accounts do not tell the whole truth of a person’s life, we know that what Lacie is seeing is not real, which is what the episode is trying to portray. The contact lens is preventing Lacie from realizing the importance of authenticity, which might be why she conforms to society’s norms. At the very end of the episode, Lacie is thrown in jail for crashing her childhood best friends wedding (after being uninvited), and when they’re processing her they remove the eye implant. Then, as Lacie is sitting in her cell, she looks up at the light and sees dust, and when she sees the dust she starts crying as if she’s never seen dust before. What this scene is trying to depict is the relief of finally being able to face the truth. When Lacie’s implant was removed, she had to let go of social media and the burden that came with having to keep up her rating. Lacie was finally able to be her true self.
This color scheme of when Lacie is talking to her brother gives off a connotation of indifference, representing 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 wears boxers/sweatpants, which is very different from Lacie who dresses neat and speaks eloquently. This sibling relationship is meant to display a paradox between authentic (Lacie’s brother) and inauthentic (Lacie). He represent the one part of Lacie’s life that 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 symbolizes the people in society who choose not to conform to the 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 other’s posts. The viewer of this scene may think the atmosphere is happy and friendly, but, the fact that all the characters seem too happy and are too friendly, makes the scene uncomfortable to watch. It’s fictionalized to the extreme and is unsettling because we all know that people are not like that in real life. 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.
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 it out, and puts the cookie down next to her coffee to take 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 represents 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 three 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. “Nosedive” has a similar message to a song by pop artist Drake. The song is called “Emotionless” and touches upon the general issues that users face while using social media.
Much like “Nosedive”, 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 song “Emotionless” 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 references social media and describes how people on social media don’t display their true selves. When Drake says “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 about something that is often seen on social media platforms, specifically Instagram: people who only show highlights of their life and not the real version. This is similar to the ratings in “Nosedive”. In Drake’s song, a person’s pictures on Instagram is usually what people base their judgement off of, and in “Nosedive” the ratings of the characters are what people’s based their judgement (of the character) off of. Neither actually defines the person and who he/she is, it only represents the surface. 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 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 many may 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 and validation has resulted in society creating fabrications. People are now going out of their way to make their lives seem more interesting than they really are, 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 (“Stress by Generation”). This could make us wonder how younger generations will cope with the challenges presented within social media.
Additional Citations: “Stress by Generation.” American Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2012/generations.