We Watch The Watchmen

Just finished reading a thought-provoking piece by Anders Albrechtslund entitled Online Social Networking as Participatory Surveillance.

The abstract, by Albrechtslund:

"In this article, I argue that online social networking is anchored in surveillance practices.  This gives us an opportunity to challenge conventional understandings of surveillance that often focus on control and disempowerment.  In the context of online social networking, surveillance is something potentially empowering, subjectivity building and even playful -- what I call participatory surveillance."

This is a powerful piece, and worth a read.

Historically, I think many of us think of "surveillance" as something that is done by a more powerful authority to an individual who is comparatively less powerful.  One of the classic examples of this is the concept of the Panopticon, a prison where a single watcher could observe the actions and activities of a great number of individuals.

However, Albrechtslund argues that (perhaps not unlike a subjugated group taking back derogatory words) online social networking has the possibility to enable a new type of peer-to-peer "surveillance" that is actually empowering to individuals.  He writes:

"As mentioned earlier, a hierarchical conception of surveillance represents a power relation which is in favor of the person doing the surveillance.  The person under surveillance is reduced to a powerless, passive subject under the control of the "gaze."

[Koskela] introduces the concept of 'empowering exhibitionism' to describe the practice of revealing your (very) personal life.  By exhibiting their lives, people claim 'copyright' to their own lives, as they engage in the self-construction of identity.  This reverts the vertical power relation, as visibility becomes a tool of power that can be used to rebel against the shame associated with not being private about certain things.  Thus, exhibitionism is liberating, because it represents a refusal to be humble.

Online social networking can also be empowering for the user, as the monitoring and registration facilitates new ways of constructing identity, meeting friends and colleagues as well as socializing with strangers.  This changes the role of the user from passive to active, since surveillance in this context offers opportunities to take action, seek information and communicate."

So what does this mean?  This means that, as our offline and online lives become increasingly intertwined and networked, the more open we are, the more individual power we have.

What I'm now wrestling with is how this plays at the place where organizations, employees, and customers meet.

Remember, in a networked world, we all play different roles at different times -- employee, customer, company representative, parent, friend, person.  And everyone with whom we interact does the same thing.   We are all creators, and all watchers.  Perhaps the more we create, and the more we connect, the more say we have in our own futures.

Related: ArtTartare

photos: 3blindmice and wikipedia

cross-posted to the conversation hub.