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This is a real thing, and apparently going to be mandatory in 2020. People get good scores for posting stuff that demonstrates they think along party lines, and get bad scores for things like buying foreign products or asking about things like Tiananmen Square. Good score means stuff like high internet speed, and while there aren't any punishments for bad scores, there's talk that this could change.

Now that already sounds bad, but here's where it turns scary. You see, your score is also influenced by your friends' scores, meaning friends with lots of points give you a boost while low-scoring friends drag you down. This basically means the game uses peer pressure to weed out and isolate the "problem citizens" while the government gets seen as awesome for providing free stuff.

Think about it-- if what you wrote on Facebook could not only be rewarded or punished by the government, by a set of criteria they chose, but additionally if people were rewarded for either no longer being your friend or encouraging you to be a "better citizen" if you were considered a "problem citizen", well, I'm sure you can imagine the potential for abuse.

Here's a link to the seven minute video I watched about it if you want to hear more: http://youtu.be/lHcTKWiZ8sI

Edit: Well, first impressions are this is real. Here's another source that covers the subject: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186

Final Edit: Okay, I'm reasonably convinced this isn't a hoax now. Here's another article from someone who actually lives in China: http://qz.com/519737/all-chinese-citizens-now-have-a-score-based-on-how-well-we-live-and-mine-sucks/

So, yeah, while I'm mot sure if all the details are 100% spot on, this looks to be a real thing with, at the very least, plenty of room for abuse. Thoughts? Opinions? Speculations? Predictions?

I looked into it a bit after watching the Extra Credits video. From the sound of it, it looks a tad bit overblown. Here's what I understand of it thus far:

China doesn't have a lot of people who can be measured via traditional credit score methods. Most people are very frugal there and don't often take loans there. In order to encourage taking loans and increased consumer spending as per China's economic strategic the privately-owned Alibaba group made Sesame credit to make a credit score based on regular consumer purchases. So someone who spends a lot of time just playing video games is considered "idle" while someone who buys diapers for their family is considered a "responsible person" or something like that.

As for the social media thing, the company has both said they will take it into account but won't penalize you for it or something. I'm getting conflicting messages on it. What it SEEMS to me is that if you're the type whose social media feed is filled with addictive, impulsive purchases (like say mobile game in-app purchases) then it will be taken into account. I haven't seen any literature on the matter that actually suggests it will take what political stance you have into account. Nor have I read anything to confirm the internet-slowing part, that sounded like extrapolation (if not exaggeration) on EC's part.

The goal of the system seems to be to implement an alternative credit score system into China so that more citizens can be financially tracked to bolster China's economy. I read there are a number of other privately-owned firms like Alibaba which have competing systems to accomplish this but Sesame credit seems like the winning solution.

I can foresee this causing social pressure but not in the way EC suggests. I see it more along the lines of people ostracizing others for impulsive purchases, or by taking financial risks which could/will be costly. I don't necessarily see this as a good or bad thing, but it's something I can definitely see happening.

In any case, a lot of what EC was talking about in the latter half of their video was a bunch of extrapolation. From what we now AT THIS TIME, it's a very different means to track financial data and provide credit score-less people the opportunity to prove their financial savvyness or improve it even.

That's fair, and reassuring. The other two articles I posted were reporting things along the same line, but by the time I finished reading, it was too late to edit and I didn't want to double post.
Here's hoping that this system isn't abused.

(Sorry if I came off as a total fanboy, it just sounded like a hot scoop and considering how fast news spreads these days, I didn't want to miss my chance at "glory". Perhaps that wasn't too responsible, but at least I tried a little with looking up the two other articles and skimming them to make sure this wasn't a TOTAL lie with the updates I was able to do in time.)

So now that the issue's a little clearer, I really would be interested in hearing what you all have to say. After all, you can't really be objective listening to only one or two points of view.

After watching the Extra Credits video…. holy crap. As the comments said, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell are spinning and screaming in their graves right now.

Within five years, the government's mandatory system will rank everyone within China's borders.

In a country where the majority of people don't have internet access?

Eh. I kind of doubt that such a system will operate efficiently enough, and be as omnipresent as promised, without some serious compromises. Expect to see countercultures formed around having low scores, too.

Just wake me up fam.