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The Crowdsourced Panopticon: Conformity and Control on Social Media
Behind the omnipresent screens of our laptops and smartphones, a digitally networked public has quickly grown larger than the population of any nation on Earth. On the flipside, in front of the ubiquitous recording devices that saturate our lives, individuals are hyper-exposed through a worldwide online broadcast that encourages the public to watch, judge, rate, and rank people’s lives. The interplay of these two forces - the invisibility of the anonymous crowd and the exposure of the individual before that crowd - is a central focus of this book. Informed by critiques of conformity and mass media by some of the greatest philosophers of the past two centuries, as well as by a wide range of historical and empirical studies, Weissman helps shed light on what may happen when our lives are increasingly broadcast online for everyone all the time, to be judged by the global community.
158 pages, Hardcover
Published February 26, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 2, 2021
This book is mostly unknown to most people, Fortunately, one of my favorite YouTube channels "Academy of ideas" used some ideas from this book for their new videos about Smartphones and social media.
Book mainly deals with the invisible cloak given to the masses through social media without knowing its power, and its harmful effect on individuals. P2P surveillance, conformity, invisibility, trolls, memes, and authoritarianism effects on the structure of society and individuals are keenly observed and analyzed with an example in each chapter.
Though I have not used social media much in recent years, I couldn't deny the impact it had on my behavior during my college days. Invisibility behind the screen sort of offered me unprecedented power to lash out at anyone who doesn't agree with my moral measures, I wouldn't be lashing out at anyone if they shared the same opinion in real but unprecedented power offered on the internet made me lose myself to prove my moral superiority. Though I no longer use social media, I have seen the public morally correcting and shaming people if they differ in the socially accepted norms. Do they hurl such abuses at people in real life? I don't think so. But still, we do since no one can punch our faces on social media.
People are labeled as sexist, racist, homophobic, and characterless if they have a different opinion than the mass of the public. How can someone be categorized as an outcast if they read, watch and associate with what they choose and express opinion as they see fit? Social media give masses a power they don't know how to use, Now it's posing a threat to a healthy democracy and liberal society.
Personally I have afraid to share any opinion on social media , Because of its dark power where my opinion could be taken out of context to bend it as they want to ruin my reputation. It really bothers me when I have to share opinion without spontaneity. Modifying my opinion to be accepted by peers or public, feels like outright slaughter of my individuality.
It's an easy read because one or another way we have witnessed all the social issues highlighted by the author in our real life.
Must read for those who value their individuality and freedom to express themselves in their framework.
Book mainly deals with the invisible cloak given to the masses through social media without knowing its power, and its harmful effect on individuals. P2P surveillance, conformity, invisibility, trolls, memes, and authoritarianism effects on the structure of society and individuals are keenly observed and analyzed with an example in each chapter.
Though I have not used social media much in recent years, I couldn't deny the impact it had on my behavior during my college days. Invisibility behind the screen sort of offered me unprecedented power to lash out at anyone who doesn't agree with my moral measures, I wouldn't be lashing out at anyone if they shared the same opinion in real but unprecedented power offered on the internet made me lose myself to prove my moral superiority. Though I no longer use social media, I have seen the public morally correcting and shaming people if they differ in the socially accepted norms. Do they hurl such abuses at people in real life? I don't think so. But still, we do since no one can punch our faces on social media.
People are labeled as sexist, racist, homophobic, and characterless if they have a different opinion than the mass of the public. How can someone be categorized as an outcast if they read, watch and associate with what they choose and express opinion as they see fit? Social media give masses a power they don't know how to use, Now it's posing a threat to a healthy democracy and liberal society.
Personally I have afraid to share any opinion on social media , Because of its dark power where my opinion could be taken out of context to bend it as they want to ruin my reputation. It really bothers me when I have to share opinion without spontaneity. Modifying my opinion to be accepted by peers or public, feels like outright slaughter of my individuality.
It's an easy read because one or another way we have witnessed all the social issues highlighted by the author in our real life.
Must read for those who value their individuality and freedom to express themselves in their framework.
May 31, 2022
I hear people afraid of being spied on by governments,on social media, this book claims they should be more afraid of being spied on by their followers, they should be afraid of self-censoring in order to please others, be afraid of leaning to conformity ... the crowdsourced panopticon.
Weissman cites various scientific studies to support his claims throughout the book and also quotes great philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Frankel, Foucault and ... to expand his ideas and views.
Weissman cites various scientific studies to support his claims throughout the book and also quotes great philosophers such as Kierkegaard, Frankel, Foucault and ... to expand his ideas and views.
August 24, 2024
It's a great book until the last chapter. All of the solutions 'tentatively' proposed by the author would ironically just make the very same sorts of problems discussed in the rest of the book even worse. In my opinion, there is no technological or governmental solution to P2P surveillance that wouldn't just create a similar or worse state of affairs, and the ones suggested in the last chapter seem completely absurd to me.
Other than that, it's absolutely worth reading and I'm surprised how unknown this book is. Thanks to Academy of Ideas for pointing it out to me.
Other than that, it's absolutely worth reading and I'm surprised how unknown this book is. Thanks to Academy of Ideas for pointing it out to me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews