Black Mirror’s Nosedive rating system could will be a reality for millions, possibly (Picture: Netflix)

Black Mirror has been shining a satirical and disturbing light on the way we, as a society, approach things like social media and technology in general.

For the most part it’s usually at the least disturbing, and at the most bloody terrifying.

In the episode Nosedive, from series three of Charlie Brooker’s hit show, we were introduced to a social media-obsessed society, where people were rated out of five after every single interaction.

In this strange take on the modern popularity contest that is Instagram etc. people’s rating dictated where they could live, who they could be friends with and how they could travel.




Lacie was the focus of the episode. A young woman looking to climb the social ladder as quickly as possible. For anyone who hasn’t seen the episode, just imagine your Uber rating gets smashed into your Instagram page.

The Chinese government is building a social credit rating to test the trustworthiness of its citizens, with plans to implement the system fully by 2020 (Picture: Netflix)

Unfortunately for Lacie, she had a few mishaps on her quest for numbers and her rating plummeted, causing her to have a mental breakdown.

It was a intelligent take on how we become slaves to public perception in today’s day and age, though thankfully it was all fiction. Not anymore though, as this digital nightmare could well become a reality for people in China.

The Chinese government is building a social credit rating to test the trustworthiness of its citizens, with plans to implement the system fully by 2020.

People will be given a score, with the lowest being 350 and the highest being 950, reports the Daily Telegraph. Their number will supposedly go up when they do good deeds like donating blood, charity work, recycling or sending positive messages about the country on social media.

However, if citizens do something bad such as a cancel a reservation, leave a dishonest review, or more worryingly, if they’re friends with someone ‘bad’ on social media then their points will go down.

That means that anyone who’s has been unfortunate enough to be flagged The Man as a bad influence will endure an awful social ranking, as will their pals (and presumably family members).

It’s also reported that as a reward for being a good little cog in the machine, high-scoring members of public may benefit from cheaper public transport, free gym memberships, and even shorter waiting times in hospitals (in a massively disturbing twist).

All the supposed ne’er-do-wells may face travel restrictions, restricted access into certain restaurants and even slower internet speeds.

Like we said, utterly terrifying.

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