Televisions shows like Star Trek have featured extraordinary gadgets that were not conceivable during their premise, but are now considered essentials in our households; an example of one of these gadgets being a tablet computer. There is no denying that Star Trek has influenced a generation of fans, and with that influence comes a birth of innovative designs driven by conceptual inspiration.

With Netflix’s hit series, Black Mirror, we are presented with a conceptual realm that uncannily represents the direction of our society and the possibilities that can arise from these scenarios. Some episodes are eerily geared towards dystopian futures, and others that make us ponder if we are within a few years reach of this becoming our reality.

In the episode Nosedive (Season 3, Episode 1), the protagonist lives in a world that is driven by social media, and each interaction with a person results in scoring one another. The higher ones’ score can be correlated to their social desirability, thus influencing a number of opportunities being open. Whether you’re looking for a loan, or a job, it is inevitably tied into your score. This concept highly incentivizes others to be kind towards one another to facilitate an environment that is both rewarding, yet ultimately bleak. Those who stray from the societal norms can witness firsthand the diminished resources. Disconnecting from the television show, we already live in a world where most of our communication is done online, and the growth of blockchain and the media attention it has garnered has pivoted our direction towards the future. Not only has the introduction of blockchain made us rethink money, but it has spurred countless innovative ideas that some of which we can see come into fruition. Steemit, being a relatively new social media platform, has combined the already available features of Facebook and Reddit, with the introduction of allowing contributors to be rewarded in cryptocurrency. This sort of incentivization has thrusted the community to produce quality content, and the rewards received are a clear indicator for the individuals’ contribution. With that being transparent in Steemit’s whitepaper, it is hard not to postulate the affect this may have on human empathy, and how we interact with one another, whether it is online or offline.

Empathy

Empathy is a basic human ability that allows the person to grasp and comprehend how another individual is feeling. The word “empathy” was first used by Titchener, and has been translated from the German word “Einfuhlung”, closely translating to simply placing yourself in what you observe, making you the recipient.
Empathy is essential for socializing, it is a multiplatform construct that incorporates both affection and intellect to perceive one’s perspective and develop an emotional response. It is believed to have been a hallmark in human evolution, which is why study carried out by Carrier et. al, noticed a decline in empathy in young people since technological communication quickly took over as the predominant means of communication. In a sample of 1726 adults born since 1980 (net generation) were assessed via a self-report anonymous questionnaire carried out by SurveyMonkey.com. The participants mean age was 23.39, and roughly 58% of participants were female, and the remaining 42% male. They looked for a difference between face-to-face empathy and virtual empathy, but found no statistical significance; people who express empathy to a nearby friend would also show that same amount of empathy to an online friend.

Influenced by how people interact with one another, my team and I conducted a similar study. Rather than looking for a difference between empathy expressed offline vs online, the added variable of time spent on social media provided statistically significant results. The usage of social media (measured in hours) tested two groups, those with high social media usage, and those with low usage. There was no significance between both groups when determining offline-empathy, however, those with higher usage also tested higher for online-empathy (on the right).

The Future

Where do we see ourselves in five years? Are we going to end up living in a false-utopian society that was portrayed in an episode of Black Mirror, where every interaction is preemptively calculated to benefit us, rather than convey the truth? This sort of incentivization is already present, but the applications in store for the future are rapidly developing, especially with blockchain integration. If making ourselves seem socially desirable to gather likes on Instagram, or upvotes on Reddit, what affect does this actually have if we are now monetarily rewarded?