The Digital Panopticon

Omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent camera — It does not matter whether it is God, your bodyguards, your father or Big Brother who is watching —your behavior will change if you are aware that you are being observed. Moreover, if the man behind the camera is a judge with the ability to promote you or demote you on the basis of your performance, the change in your behavior will, in all likelihood, be directed towards pleasing this figure of authority. Under constant surveillance, your life becomes a permanent act of theatre —you no longer live for the sake of living, you exist only to please the camera.

Your life in an open source dossier —Let us imagine a science fiction scenario: a large corporation creates a great Archive of Lives, and private citizens are invited to submit dossiers with information about themselves. When you agree to participate, you are asked to include a brief biography, a selection of interests, a few favorite movies. It is requested that you define your political and religious views in one or two words, and that you declare your sexual orientation. You are also asked to indicate your level of education, your workplace, and whether you are desperate for a hookup or looking the love of your life. Your dossier is to include a list of people whom you consider your friends; they will be able to see your file at will. Finally, you are given the opportunity to include photographs of yourself and of others associated with you. All of these components will be cross-listed with those of other informants, to create a great network that will eventually provide a precise map of the relationships between all mankind.

Disconnect, and stay connected — So reads the advertisement campaign of a major Internet provider. It has the uncanny paradoxical ring of “War is Peace” and “Freedom is Slavery.” The prevalence of smart-phones and slogans like this are indicative of the social climate regarding Internet communication: no matter where you go and what you do, stay in touch. The pressure to maintain a constant flux of information to and from the hive-mind is growing. Stay updated, says the friendly machine, and make sure to keep me updated too.

Re(Omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent camera) —Orwell and others have imagined a world in which a totalitarian state placed cameras everywhere, thus allowing for permanent vigilance over the actions of all citizens. They were mistaken —the cameras have not been fixed by the state in specific locations. Rather, it was the citizens themselves who were given immense amounts of digital cameras —often times as part of their smart-phones. It was not even necessary to tell give them any further instructions; out of their own accord they began to constantly photograph and videotape each other.

The Digital Panopticon —It all comes together in Facebook. In the digital age, Bentham’s Panopticon has been inversed —instead of having a single guard constantly observing all the prisoners, we have each prisoner locked up in a mirrored cage, under the perpetual gaze of all of the other prisoners. You watch as part of an anonymous crowd, and are in turn watched —and the crowd is judging you. The most terrifying part of the whole ordeal is that it did not happen due to some well-executed plan devised by a powerful government. Facebook appeared almost spontaneously, a product of our social trends. The digital age has brought on social totalitarianism —and we did not eve notice.

Sinceramente,

NMMP