The Panopticon was build so that prisoners would each take up one cell. The cells would be aligned creating a circle around a tower from which the guards observed and controlled those incarcerated. This allowed for a broadened view of the entire prison for the guards without letting the prisoners know whether or not they were being watched.
This system, according to Foucault, would reduce individuality and deindividualize power. The prisoners would slowly lose their identities as they would become alienated by the lack of true social relationships and power would transcend to those in the central tower.
And I could not help but to notice a similarity between a Panopticon and social media.
The insidious influence from our culture has convinced us that we must engage in all these virtual social worlds and present our best versions of ourselves through those media. But is that really liberating us and giving us the power?
Based on the conceptualizations by Foucault, I would argue that the social media is structured to increase surveillance over our lives and to ensure that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.
I believe that we are consciously imprisoning ourselves into Panopticons by participating in things such as Facebook and Twitter where we register our moves.
We become individualized as all our records are structured and tailored to fit the requirements of the virtual versions of ourselves. And we deliberately give power to the watchers to judge and control our lives to the point where people can no longer freely express themselves and post versions of their characters without getting shun from society and fired from their jobs.
The euphoria behind all the advantages of the social media may help people if they can pretend to meet every social expectation, but it blinds them from engaging in real relationships and dealing with who they really are.
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