If you're reading this right now, stop what you're doing and watch this episode!

What is Black Mirror?

First of all, if you're not familiar with black mirror it's a British science fiction anthology TV series which means it's a collection of published works that are compiled together in one show.

Which means each episode is a stand alone entity and that they're not interconnected so you don't have to watch the previous episodes or seasons.

Each episode presents a dilemma of sorts, usually in a far dystopian future. Each episode having their own theme and more or less, gray areas in morality.

Why should i watch that particular episode if i'm on Steem?

(Season 3 episode 1)

That particular episode's story is about a society in the far future wherein you can rate other people from 1-5 stars anytime anywhere from the comforts of your smart phone. From your daily interactions with anyone, a cab driver, food server, a coworker even family members, there's no limit to whom you can rate and what.

In this world Social Media is your life and as you share more, people rate it and form your reputation

Sounds eerily familiar already? we're only getting started!

Thanks to an inbuilt retina scanner, you can view people's ratings on the fly

Now the ratings here work like how you'd rate movies on IMDB, only this time, you're rating people instead of movies. Yes...people Similar to IMDB and other rating sites for that matter, the number of stars you accumulate are averaged, that average now would be your reputation.

Being nice to your waiter can benefit both your reputation and his

You reputation determines your standing in society, and it can be publicly seen by others like on any social media site. Your reputation can determine your job position, perks that you are entitled to from the Government and other business establishments, it can even determine your influence and rating power. (Cough steem power cough cough)

Doing good socially has its perks, and the Government and society wants good people to stay good

In the episode, our main protagonist "Lacie" desperately needs to increase her reputation so she could get a huge discount on her newly purchased house (yes reputation can do that for you). She was living her life like normal until she finally yearned for more.

Our protagonist, Lacie, practicing her smile for the outside world

Without spoiling you too much, she would find ways to increase her slightly above average 4.2 rating to something of a 4.5ish and above. From drinking coffee she doesn't even like then taking a photo of it, to engaging in conversations she doesn't even genuinely want.

In this scene, she took a photo for posting so she could garner stars, she spit it afterwards, barely touching her coffee

In her desperation she'd even go consult a social media doctor about it (yes it will be a thing in the future)

The doctor said she'd need a boost if she wants to go high up real fast

She would stalk people with high ratings, 4.7 and above and learn how they do things, dress up like they would, talk like they would. (Cough whales cough cough) Now a rating from them would mean so much since they have so much power. A down vote from them? a disaster.

Stalking high starred people

By now you're probably catching my drift.

STOP right here if you want to watch it for yourself and not hear it from me

Don't forget to come back to this post! haha

Lacie uploaded a ragdoll from her childhood, supposedly to elicit feelings and emotions from her high starred friend

Our protagonist finally hit a pot of gold when her childhood friend decides to contact her when Lacie posted a doll that somewhat had sentimental value for both of them. This childhood friend would be what you'd call a whale here in steemit with an average reputation of 4.8 which in their standards is pretty damn high.

High starred people can make you or break you. Dolphins and whales.

Her lucky streak continues as she's invited to be the maid of honor in her friend's wedding. Her doctor advises that a speech from that event, with a guest list boasting 4.5 stars and above, would be a huge boost for her even though she hasn't been particularly fond with the bride nor has she any other experiences other than their childhood.

She begins practicing for the speech, her one way ticket for a boost

Again, without spoiling much, as you can say from the episode title, this won't go too well for our heroine. A series of unfortunate events would propel her further down, her reputation dying fast, nose diving until she's solitary confined.

Going there probably wasn't a good idea after all

It was only when she had nothing to lose, that she was herself, letting loose all her pent up emotions. You can see her smiling briefly before the episode ended

So what's my point?

When people are self conscious about their reputation, they tend to be too nice. Steemians are too nice

And when you're too nice, it's hard to see the genuine you. Is that really you talking? or the Steem dollars?

Giving tips? or investing on a minnow or a lowly person for the future?

Kissing ass for whales? Dolphins? In this scene this poor guy had to give shakes out for everyone since his rating was plummeting

Admit it, when was the last time you didn't check on someone's steem power or reputation before deciding to converse with them?

Cooking things you don't like, writing things to cater to an audience, sharing photos just for the sake of sharing

Engaging in small talk to invite them to up your post or exchange votes

One star short... is it a bad post then? If posts that doesn't earn affect you, it's time to take a step back

As I was starting, I'm probably guilty on all of those, I've done it subconsciously, with the intention of getting it big here someday.

I think Steemit is the future, bitcoin, internet currency is the future, and while it looks bright, honesty, genuine social interactions isn't so. Sure there are meaningful conversations out here in Steem, the people who make it big made it there via hard work and that was strengthening there network but what about the thousands, probably millions of low starred people who might never even go past a dollar per post?

It will only take a while to see the posts from the new section (not the trending or hot ones, the new section) but you'll see a lot of posts that were quite honestly, the coffee scenario above. Poorly written, poorly researched and poorly made, most people try to be something they aren't, write about something they don't know of by heart.

They say Steemit is a social media that pays you but it forces people to interact, be nice and proper be for money. It forces you to write something each day even if you don't feel like writing. It forces you to look for a niche when your interests and your heart is elsewhere.

It's time to write something real, something you. Billions of people around this world can't have the same fingerprint with yours, the same way the ideas that you can forward to the chain is yours alone. I don't care if this post doesn't earn, I want us to be free.

Thank you for reading my long post. Hope you enjoyed it for real, and please do watch that episode if you haven't yet. It's totally different from how i depicted it here.

Photo link :

http://outlookaub.com/2017/04/04/black-mirror-painful-reflection-reality/

Most photos used on this article are screencaps from my own live viewing.