This week’s readings focused a lot on the notion of technological surveillance as something that occurs to us, coming from the outside, a source with higher status and power over us and with somewhat of an invisibility or illusion of invisibility – drones, big data systems, data mining, etc… I realized that I have recently come to peace with how much we’re constantly being surveilled by our personal devices (especially having an Amazon Echo and engaging with it actively), and I started thinking about other forms of surveillance that can be activated by technology, through ourselves.
Technology has not only allowed systems to surveil us, but it has allowed us to surveil ourselves and each other in ways that are perhaps more aggressive than the hidden corporate type of surveillance. When thinking of this, Twitter and cancel culture keep coming to my mind, with how online communities are so quick to bring up receipts and completely shift the narrative of how people are perceived online and, in consequence, in the real world – especially with internet content creators. This cancel and meme culture creates a desire in fans to collect everything in case it ever becomes necessary. Internet culture then seems very similar to the collect-everything approach that Mark Andrejevic and Kelly Gates talk about.
Can we categorize fan interaction as a form of surveillance? I was also thinking of Kim Kardashian’s recent issue with her new shapewear brand. When announced, it got a lot of backlash for being called Kimono and appropriating Japanese culture. She then went ahead and changed her brand’s name saying, “My fans and followers are a huge inspiration to me – I’m always listening to their feedback and opinions, and am so grateful they shared their ideas for a new brand name.” This is different from the collect-everything approach closely aligned with cancel culture, but is also a big part of online culture and a driving force of anxiety when posting anything online.
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