Black Mirror: Nosedive: Analysis and Thoughts

Disclaimer
Black Mirror: Nosedive

Analysis and Thoughts
by Felix Zappe
IOT 5028 –
as held in
Innovation, Creativity and New
Digital Technologies
at the Edward de Bono Institute
on 24th May 2017
Kurs: Thema | Fakultät | Institution 04.08.2017 Felix Zappe

Agenda
Disclaimer
1 The Story
2 The social medium as an social instance
3 Interpersonal exchange
4 Emerging business models
5 The rules of behavior
IOT 5028 – Creativity & New Digital Technologies: Black Mirror – Nosedive
2 04.08.2017
Edward de Bono Institute | University of Malta
1. The Story
Disclaimer
Welcome to a crazy yet not so distant future
• A mixture of Tripadvisor,
Facebook and Tinder is the
new societal currency
• You can post pictures and

get rated for them
• You can create your own
profile and interact
• You can rate places and
persons you are nearby or
just encountered
• Your social status is your

average vote, a popularity
index
3 04.08.2017
1. The Story
Disclaimer
Meet Lacie
 Lacie Pound is obsessed with being well received and even has a rating of 4.2
 She lives with her brother Ryan, a 3,x and not worrying about it
 Their lease is expiring so Lacie wants to move to luxurious" Pelican Cove, Ryan is
reluctant
 To move there she needs to pay a huge amount of money or can have a immense
discount when having at least a rating of 4.5
4 04.08.2017
1. The Story
Disclaimer
The big chance
 Lacie is in need of an increased rating, all of a sudden Naomi, a childhood friend

and 4.8, asks Lacie to be her maid of honour at her wedding, she sees a chance
to impress Naomi and her high class friends and gets some good rankings from
high ranked individuals
 At the airport she is told her flight has been cancelled. Available seats on another
flight require a 4.2 rating, unfortunately an earlier argument with Ryan and
several encounters with strangers led to an index of 4.183
 Lacie causes a scene by mouthing off the attendant and the security gives her a
24-hour punishment that temporarily lowers her rating by one whole point to 3.1
and all downvotes she receives will incur a double multiplier.
5 04.08.2017
1. The Story
Disclaimer
The encounter
 Lacie has to go by car but can only rent a very basic inconvenient one, which she
cannot recharge
 Lacie tries to hitchhike, but nobody stops because of her low rating with some
even downvoting her for no reason.
 Eventually she manages to get a ride from a truck driver Susan, who reveals she
too was obsessed with ratings until her husband was passed over for vital cancer
treatment because he was a 4.3 rather than a 4.4.
6 04.08.2017
1. The Story
Disclaimer
The nosedive
 Naomi calls Lacie and tells her she is no longer welcome at the wedding, as her
rating has now dropped to 2.6.
 Enraged, Lacie gets drunk and decides to go anyway, crashes the wedding and
performs her speech at first calmly, but then starts to embarrass herself
 All the guests subsequently rank her down until she has a ranking of 0, though
she is unfazed by this she threatens Naomi’s husband with a knife
 Having lost her sanity, Lacie continues to rant but soon security arrests her during
all technology is removed from her and she is imprisoned
 In her cell, Lacie begins to exchange insults with another prisoner as their anger
turns to delight about their regained freedom of speech
7 04.08.2017
2. The social medium as an social instance
Disclaimer
The Analysis
 Despite its somewhat pervert and yet impossible

task of rating persons this social network has the
power to change social structures and replace
any value system by narcissism and obsession
 Everybody wants to get the best possible rating
which means a better live, ultimately this
results in mutual fives inflation and obsessive
rating at every moment
 Increase of superficiality & conformity on every
single being more over it kills individualism and
own taste in favor of societal norms
 This lust for impressiveness also results in
compulsive disorders such as cleaning or
investing in disliked things
 Ultimately it introduces a level of class and
worthiness into society
8 04.08.2017
2. The social medium as an social instance
Disclaimer
The Discussion
 Can you value a life, task or even service in a 5 star system?
 How would 5-star people be like?
 In a world of valued conformity, how do trends evolve and

innovations diffuse?
 How real is your rating when it is based on “staged” events

and how long can you keep it up?
9 04.08.2017
3. Interpersonal exchange
Disclaimer
The Analysis
 Lacie and her somewhat higher ranked co-

worker meet in an elevator
 The only way of socially accepted conversion is
introduced by Lacie panically scrolling through
the co-workers profile finally asking arbitrary
questions
 The participants are alienated from the
conversation as they can only ask about info,
that is publically available
 Conversions become self-centered, just for the
sake of actually having said something to each
other and promoting oneself by taking on a false
identity
10 04.08.2017
3. Interpersonal exchange
Disclaimer
The Discussion
 Would not conversing actually cause any harm?
 How similar is this scenario to professional get-togethers, job

interviews and professional social networks
 When does assimilation turn into humiliation?
11 04.08.2017
4. Emerging business models
Disclaimer
The Analysis
 The post truth of social media, supported by the

biggest attention or curated by the most known
influencer can make lies into facts
 The production of positive feelings has gotten on
the next level when holograms advertise
especially for you, even selling inappropriate
products
 The popularity of a higher social status is
emerging
 The higher your rank the more influential is your
rating, these mechanics lead to disciplines such
as popularity index optimization, based on
tactics such as nostalgia or cuteness
12 04.08.2017
4. Emerging business models
Disclaimer
The Discussion
 Would notyou
conversing
are told actually cause
Imagine to who to hangany
outharm?
with and whom not,
would you go as far as dump your brother or best friend for a
 How
better
similar
rating?
is this scenario to professional get togethers, job
interviews and professional social networks
 When advertising is ultimately personalized, does this
 When
actually
doesbreak-even?
assimilation turn into humiliation?
 Is the popularity index open to corruption?
13 04.08.2017
5. The rules of behavior
Disclaimer
The Analysis
 Social Media encourages emotionally instability

but in a societal acceptable manner
 Politeness and friendliness are valued so much,
that you actually can get severely punished by
not obeying to the rules
 Lacie’s and most of the other characters’
personas are made to impress, yet there are not
emotionally stable which leads to her downfall
 Even service clerks are not capable of actually
showing real emotions, but behave as they were
told
 Susan, as a symbol against the narcissistic rating
system does not obey & mocks these rules
 Lacie’s search for contempt is endless, however
she reveals her true self during & after the
wedding
14 04.08.2017
5. The rules of behavior
Disclaimer
The Discussion
 Can you become ultimately contempt by the “grace” of

others / of a rating system?
 On what does your reputation rely on?
 Is freedom just another word for nothing left to lose?
 How to stand against a powerful system even if you know it is

not righteous?
 Is a restrictive rating system our future?

15 04.08.2017
Disclaimer
Thanks for your attention!
And a warm ‘fuck you’ coming

from heart
04.08.2017
Disclaimer
Sources
Harry‘s Moving Castle, 2017. Black Mirror Analysis: Nosedive. [video online]
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8tX9zjO698
[Accessed 02 May June 2017].
Yames, 2017. Black Mirror Season 3: Nosedive Analysis. [video online]

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_C-s9QXiTU
[Accessed 02 May June 2017].
Butcher Billy, 2017. Black Mirror: Nosedive Golden Age Comic Cover. [image
online] Available at: http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/news
/illustration/more-black-mirror-episodes-turned-into-golden-age-
comic-covers-by-artist-butcher-billy/#9 [Accessed 02 May 2017].
17 04.08.2017

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Disclaimer

Black Mirror: Nosedive

at the Edward de Bono Institute

on 24th May 2017

Kurs: Thema | Fakultät | Institution 04.08.2017 Felix Zappe

2 The social medium as an social instance

4 Emerging business models

5 The rules of behavior

• You can post pictures and

• Your social status is your

 Lacie is in need of an increased rating, all of a sudden Naomi, a childhood friend

 Despite its somewhat pervert and yet impossible

 Can you value a life, task or even service in a 5 star system?

 How would 5-star people be like?

 In a world of valued conformity, how do trends evolve and

 How real is your rating when it is based on “staged” events

 Lacie and her somewhat higher ranked co-

 Would not conversing actually cause any harm?

 How similar is this scenario to professional get-togethers, job

 When does assimilation turn into humiliation?

 The post truth of social media, supported by the

 Is the popularity index open to corruption?

 Social Media encourages emotionally instability

 Can you become ultimately contempt by the “grace” of

 On what does your reputation rely on?

 Is freedom just another word for nothing left to lose?

 How to stand against a powerful system even if you know it is

 Is a restrictive rating system our future?

Thanks for your attention!

And a warm ‘fuck you’ coming

Yames, 2017. Black Mirror Season 3: Nosedive Analysis. [video online]

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