Negotiating the virtual panopticon: Social media as a space of surveillance for high school youth

• In Event: Conceptions of citizenship and participation

Proposal

Many youth rely on social media (Szymkowiak et al., 2021), are generally more aware of critical social justice issues, are passionate about creating change (Seemiller & Grace, 2016), and thus engage more with “digital activism.” While continuing to build a sense of safe communities, organizations and movements such as Black Lives Matter (#BLM) also rely on digital platforms to connect with community and work to promote change (Freelon, et al., 2016; Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2013). Youth are engaging more with digital activism to help support and mobilize movements (Chon & Park 2020; Freelon, et al., 2016), influence policy change, and work to protect the rights of marginalized individuals (Freelon et al., 2016; Luttig & Cohen, 2016; Way & Malvini, 2020). Yet, at the same time, there are concerns around “slacktivism,” a performative token of support for a social cause without the intention or willingness to place the efforts needed to enact actual social change (Jeong & Lee, 2013; Kristofferson et al., 2013). Youth are noticing and asking similar questions. This paper shares data from a study that explored youth’s perspectives and understanding of critical social justice issues. Of particular interest, were youth’s observations of the disconnect between how organizations, government leaders, and their peers were responding to George Floyd’s murder, the resurgent #BLM protests, and the lack of meaningful action. Some youth admitted to their own tensions of how much they felt they themselves were expected to act online and in person. Data draws attention to how the two spaces that youth occupy and exist in the most—schools and social media—become sites of surveillance that overlap, and to consider the implications on their own understanding of the issues, and negotiating the difference between performative allyship/activism versus engaging in meaningful actions.

Grounded in Foucault’s notion of panoptic surveillance, and in considering the presence of digital spaces in today’s society we must consider the “virtual panopticon” where there is constant surveillance—not just from the gatekeepers—but from everybody. Foucault (1984) noted that “the panopticon brings together power” and “control of groups and knowledge” (p. 19). It is this notion of panopticon that is arguably applicable to virtual spaces and how, for those who choose to participate, are encased in a “virtual panopticon” where there is constant quiet surveillance.

For this case study, we recruited youth participants (n=10) aged 15 – 17 who were enrolled in a high school in a Southeastern city in Ontario. Data collection included semi-structured focus group interviews that were conducted on Zoom, lasted up to 90 minutes, were audio recorded, and transcripts generated from Zoom were edited by the research team. Questions included prompts asking youth to share their experiences, observations, thoughts and/or questions about critical social justice issues that emerged around the time of the first COVID-19 lockdown such as the murder of George Floyd and subsequent #BLM protest. All transcripts were thematically coded, following Creswell’s (2007, 2014) stages of analysis.

Data showed that youth relied on social media to learn about important issues, and they observed the performative behaviour of government leaders, organizations, and their peers. During the #BLM protests after the murder of George Floyd, Kamilah noted how it was “irritating” to see Justin Trudeau “taking a knee” because, for Kamilah, the point of #BLM was to get Trudeau’s attention to “change systemic racism” and “not to get a quick 10-minute show of support.” Diana recalled the rise in participation of #BlackOutTuesday on Instagram and thought that most “people just did [this] because everybody else was doing it, and they did nothing about it.” When asked if they noticed what their peers were posting (or not), Diana noted that “there was definitely a big separation” and identified peers as “being really involved in everything” as ones who were most likely to show support. Ignatius, who was very passionate and involved in many important social justice issues and events, shared that he felt that if he did not show signs of support, whether in person or online, he would be seen as “a fake” and expressed the pressure of being “more involved.” Fay observed that she was “more shocked [about] who wasn’t posting” and of people who were “posting about anti-Black lives matter, [such as] people who are against it.” With the latter, Fay noted how “it was really interesting to see … people’s true colours” and decided that “if I don’t share morals with them, I’m not really going to be around them.” For Fay (who identified as Mauritian) and many of her racialized peers, social media surveillance was something different; it meant engaging in the processes of knowing who was safe. This is important for everyone, but especially for racialized youth who are often the targets of racist behaviour. Participants did note how events such as the #BLM protests raised awareness and Elora observed how peers started to “become really passionate about combatting racism.” Yet at the same time, Elora also noticed the performative nature of her peers and recalled a classmate “who said the N-word” but whose posts were in support of #BLM. Elora’s conclusion about this peer was they were more concerned about their image, of their social status, rather than the actual issues at hand.

Findings from this study draw important attention to the nuanced yet powerful effects of digital surveillance, of the “virtual panopticon” and becomes more significant to consider as youth continue to navigate digital spaces and continue to be more interested in and involved in important social issues. On the one hand, we need to consider the impact of surveillance, but on the other, we must also think about how these spaces, that are meant to be safe and communal spaces for racialized youth, are potentially becoming more harmful. Thus, we have to consider how this may or may not affect the ways in which youth continue to engage with critical social justice issues and to explore the invisible yet potentially damaging effects of social media’s virtual panopticon.

Authors

• Claire Ahn, Queen's University

• Thashika Pillay, Queen's University