Surveillance

Abstract

People create profiles on social networking sites and Twitter accounts in the context of an audience. This
document argues that closely examining the content created by others and looking at the content of
oneself through the eyes of other people, a common part of the use of social networks, should be framed
as social surveillance. Although social surveillance differs from traditional surveillance on three axes
(power, hierarchy and reciprocity), its effects and behavior modification are common to traditional
surveillance. Based on ethnographic studies of the populations of the United States, I analyze social
surveillance, how it is practiced and its impact on the people who participate in it. I use Foucault's
concept of power capillaries to demonstrate that social vigilance assumes the power differentials evident
in everyday interactions rather than hierarchical power relationships assumed in much of the surveillance
literature. Social networks imply a collapse of social contexts and social roles, which complicates the work
of limits but facilitates social surveillance. People reveal, disseminate and hide personal information
strategically to create connections with others and set social boundaries. These processes are normal
parts of everyday life in communities that are highly connected through social networks