The concepts of the Panopticon and the Stanford Prison experiment caught my attention in week two lecture.
The statement,'' Hence,the major effect of the panopticon: to induce the inmate state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic function of power.'' (Foucault,1977: 201), rings true to us, but much more differently from that era; the Bentham panopticon inmates were never aware of being watched from the outside, prison guards always gave them the impression that they were being watched from the inside.
This is so much unlike us today, we know we are under scrutiny and under surveillance,with every blog post, a comment on Facebook, a twitter message... our anonymity is lost and with a button of a click,our identities remain accessible to all social meta-search engine,leaving us vulnerable and exposed. There is no empowerment in knowing you are being watched, needless to say, the watch men and women in our various social set ups, delight in the power given to them by this lack of fixed boundaries in social network.
In reference to Allen (2003) explanation on situating power, we learned that, there are two implications to power; in the first, power is exerted upon an individual and is used to gain control over this person, and in the second, a mutual agreement is drawn by two or more individuals for a common goal. I guess, it is up to us to decide how we would like to use this powerful resource that social network brings with it to all aspect of life relationships.
Youtube Video:Modern Panopticon
a neophyte blogger,I have a feeling, that I am really going to enjoy all the learning curves this subject brings with it!
References
Citation:Foucoult,M(1977:201)JCU Lecture notes
Image 1: Social Networke: www.socialmediamom.com
http://en.wikipidia.org/wiki/stanford_prison_experiment
Allen,J. (2003, p.5).Lost geography of Power: Situating power. united kingdom:Blackwell
Hello Tee, the Panopticon also caught my attention in the week 2 lecture given by Dr Petray. What stood out to me about the power being exercised over the inmates of the prison would change how they saw themselves and possibly how they acted. Turkle (1995) states, “Individuals learn to look at themselves through the eyes of the prison guard…this same kind of self surveillance has extended from the technologies of imprisonment…”. I feel that this kind of power has certainly extended to social networks. Most people would not even take a second to think that they are actually being watched or how they should act in the public eye. Do you believe that in such an age of new technologies and cyber networks that anyone even cares anymore? I feel this topic on power has made me step back and think, yes we are being watched and it is disempowering like you say.
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