Ratings from Online

In an episode of Black Mirror featuring Bryce Dallas Howard we see her in a futuristic world which operates on a rating system. When people encounter each other they give one and other ratings out of 5 stars. Having an overall higher average rating leads to your life being better. More opportunities for advancement in your work, the ability to live in nicer neighbourhoods, etc. 

In this imagined future people are overbearingly kind to one another. They are all smiles and full of compliments. They want a good rating and due to that they will trade back and forth 5 star ratings to help one and other out. They fear what comes with the outcome of a lower rating. They walk past people of lower ratings, 3.5 stars or lower. They look down in disgust, in fear.    

It's apparent that what they were trying to express in this episode was a comparison to our current social media epidemic. We now have people who have careers that are leveraged off their growing fame on these social platforms, influencers. People who have their value based on numbers. Followers, views, likes, net worth. We have a generation of young men and women who are followed by millions and can create an incredible life for themselves based on this. 

In this world we live in now it is a huge advantage to have a somewhat larger following on your profile. It in some senses opens up valuable options for people. We have seen this with the Paul brothers that they have gotten parts in movies, professional boxing and even a prominent onscreen role within WWE. 

For younger people the pull of having to be liked can be a huge part of early life. From a young age social media is thrust on people early on. They need to contend with the facts of seeing other people's lives which may seem better than their own. The perfect selfies, the luxury cars, the holidays. The admiration of many. 

We need to remember this is simply a form of entertainment. A scroll on a feed, a video online, a brand.