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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44461
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I wouldn't really consider a story [science fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction) if the science and technology in the story exists entirely within the confines of reality today. For it to count, some aspect of the technology in the story would need to be more advanced or significantly different compared to what currently exists today.

Tom Scott actually has a lot of videos outlining sci-fi-themed hypothetical scenarios relating to social media and the internet, so here are some examples, along with my view on whether they seem like science fiction:

Doesn't feel like science fiction (rather, just fiction):

- [Single Point of Failure: The (Fictional) Day Google Forgot To Check Passwords](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4GB_NDU43Q&list=PL96C35uN7xGI08uVWv9iEX-maKrBhEcIn&index=9): Entirely plausible in the modern-day world.
- [Flash Mob Gone Wrong by Tom Scott](https://youtu.be/RyMdOT8YJgY?t=24): "Any similarity to actual events or people is purely coincidental", but it's entirely plausible within the confines of modern-day technology and social structures.

Feels like science fiction:

- [The Bubble: imagine the web without trolls, or shocks, or spam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdxzvQG3aic&list=PL96C35uN7xGI08uVWv9iEX-maKrBhEcIn&index=5): The technology needed to implement this as described is still beyond us :)
- [Oversight: Thank you for volunteering, citizen.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIuf1V1FhpY&list=PL96C35uN7xGI08uVWv9iEX-maKrBhEcIn&index=6) Feels like _1984_ (social science fiction). The system and social structure described in this video has some sci-fi vibes.
- [The Artificial Intelligence That Deleted A Century](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JlxuQ7tPgQ): The motivations behind Earworm are scarily plausible but fortunately the technological level of the system is still quite a ways beyond us at the moment. Mesh network of mites (_shivers_).

Original score: 3