Final Project Excerpt #4

Additionally, in the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” everyone’s ratings are on display for people to see. The paranoia of people viewing one’s rating everywhere he or she goes promotes good behavior because they know their rating will decrease if they act imperfectly. Social media companies in real life, although not to the extent of the company in the Black Mirror episode, encourage posts to be viewed by as many people as possible. People will normally post only good or well-behaved content because they will be ridiculed if they do the opposite. Additionally, public figures or well-known social media users will typically act respectful and compliant when in a setting around people (‘below’ them in a social media context) because their social media may be scorned if they act self-righteous. In another sense, social media possesses an aspect of surveillance by the government. According to River Jordan, social media “is able to track and monitor not only to obtain an insight on each individual but also to forsee actions” (4). When one makes a direct threat to the government or others, their content is flagged for review by the government. To avoid having to go through large amounts of content from social media, the government implements a series of words that will deem the post a threat. The Panopticon had the same idea: to be able to predict whether someone was going to rebel through constant surveillance. Therefore, many people talk about crimes in person rather than on social media to prevent being discovered. Overall, people may act differently in private while they have privacy, compared to on social media where they are being viewed. This was the main idea of the Panopticon: to control individuals by making them feel like they are being watched or judged by others.

This comparison of social media to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon has one downside. While the Panopticon would be forced upon the inmates assigned to it, social media is completely voluntary. Although social media does, for the most part, control the population that uses it, it is not required by the government and is not a way to oppress the general population like Big Brother in 1984. Social media is mainly a way for users to keep other users in check through ‘likes’ and comments, especially for the people emotionally invested in it. However, social media does have benefits of improved social communication and faster information sharing. While these benefits improve society, those who regularly use it are controlled. In this era, where the popularity of the documentary impulse is exponentially increasing, more people will begin making social media accounts. Eventually, the controlling aspect of social media may tighten as it becomes harder to keep track of everyone online. Hopefully, society will never enter an age where social media is used against its users because of its Panopticon-esque traits.