Bentham’s Panopticon offers a modality by which we can examine the growth of mobile media devices that allow users to upload media directly to web sites such as CNN and YouTube. In the past decade, concepts such as viral videos and iReporter allow anyone to capture interesting, funny, or alarming videos for the world to consume in just a few simple steps.
While the concept of citizens as journalists is certainly not new in America, the ability to offer uncensored videos to the world at incredible speed certainly is a recent development. The freedom of the press is outlined in the United States Constitution but the application of Foucault’s Panoptic Lens may offer additional insights to this growing trend.
To use a local example, less than one week ago and fiery crash occurred near the USU campus. While traffic accidents between cars and motorcycles are not uncommon, this particular example has three unique factors. First on an upper floor of the Eccles Business Building, a professional videographer was working on a Huntsman School promotional video, and he was able capture almost 25 minutes of quality video footage. Second, his video footage was quickly shown on national and international outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Canadian Broadcasting Company and CNN. Third, these outlets allow anyone to post a comment about their news stories on their web site.
It is the unique combination of video, outlets with a large following, and allowing user comments that create a modern day Panopticon, where each of us play the roles of inmate or inspector. The ability to be an armchair commenter on the latest situation 24/7 while having relative anonymity and limited repercussions for comments allow us to observe others and make note of any behavior contrary to social norms, conventions, and in some cases laws.
I wanted to test my initial assumption of Panoptic characteristics of our local example. I have completed a quick and dirty content analysis, with almost 1100 articles and stories published on the accident, I selected stories from The New York Times and CNN and read 850 comments left by users.
The vast majority of comments had three similar elements, an expression of amazement, “WOW,” and “There are real heroes left in America.” A resorted faith in human goodness “we can all be proud as a human being,” “It is refreshing to see people help out a stranger in need.” Third, expression of hope for the motorcycles injured, “I glad Brandon is doing well,” “These people saved his life.” While these comments are nice and the groups’ actions are heroic, in a panoptic lens we are reinforcing action we deem as good.
But another underlying theme of the user comments has a very different tone. A growing number of posts identify a large man in a suit who was in the driver of the BMW. Many of these users wondered why he did not help, others criticized him for driving a BMW, his weight, and yet others called his professional competence into question. In less than 13 hours of user comments the driver was identified by name, department and position at USU. Quickly some comments began calling for his resignation and others deemed him unfit to teach young people.
While I am not seeking to condone or condemn his actions, I would argue that readers who are presented with a single video source without audio might be operating without all of the facts. In terms of personal privacy and boundaries, technologies like smartphones, web-streaming cameras, and blogs and posts, have allowed us all to act as syndics who are willing to report anything and everything to magistrates (the public) and who are willing to keep us confined in place or face harsh penalty.
As we place cameras in more locations and smartphones continue to offer even more sophisticated technology, we may need to wonder who is watching the watchers. With a few simple additions like face recognition technology and ways to connect multiple data streams together we could create world that looks a Panopticon and less like the Information Age.
What an excellent take on the panopticon! It's interesting that the Business school -- at least superficially -- resembles Foucault's description of the architecture of the panopticon. The fact that a camera was quickly turned on the event heightens the comparison. Foucault talks about observation within the tower, that it needs to be one-way only. The video thus is a perfect enactment of his idea. The fact that people acted honorably despite observation shows that the panopticon is not always needed; self-regulation is a much more efficient and pleasant alternative.
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