I have a re-occuring dream where Foucault and I…

are sitting at a bar, drinking gin and tonics, and having “philosophical conversations” that are usually nothing more than knowing glances at one another. I never finish my drink because the bar, which is tucked away in a corner of a large room when I first enter, always imperceptibly changes location. It becomes the center piece of the very large room and I, uncomfortable, get-up, and walk away. Others see Foucault and rush forward to take my place, even as he tries to get off his barstool. We exchange one last knowing glace at one another before I leave the room.

Bentham’s panopticon, which Foucault wrote on extensively and that is the foundation for what he calls a disciplinary society, is similar to how I often view the Internet, social media forums, and the physical space of the 2.0 library. Libraries that used to have nooks and crannies for hiding oneself among stacks of books have now been transformed into “knowledge centers” with the open-space, panopticon design. It is unnerving that half the books have been removed, I can see what everyone is working on when I walk past them, and that individual desks have been replaced with large, Basque dining-style tables. The architecture of open-space libraries and even cafes make me feel as if I am on display; being watched not by Bentham’s armed guard, but by video cameras, professional library staff, AND other patrons of the library (my fellow prisoners?). We watch one another, effectively creating a scenario in miniature of Foucault’s disciplinary society. This, I can only say, is a negative effect of the 2.0 library, Web 2.0, and of social media.

When I am on Facebook, the sites I visit are monitored as are the emails I send through it, so that advertising is “custom fit” for me. But at the same time, I become just another statistic and demographic that can be collected, analyzed, and sold. This video looks at these issues in a very critical and disparaging way.

Nevertheless,  just as we are being watched via online conduits, we also have the power to demand accountability from those who are watching us. And, just as online (and in public spaces) disciplinary communities form, the Internet is also a place where anonymity and anarchy thrive. This article form The Baltic Review reminds of us of just that. A video was posted in one of the discussion boards about how the average citizen breaks and bends the law frequently on the Internet because of illegal song, movie, and television downloads, etc. In this way, the general consensus has subverted the law and encouraged a form of dissidence. We shall see, however, if this continues. For instance, rulings that subvert net neutrality threaten this anarchy and anonymity.

In my dream, I always end up walking away from the bar once I realize its in the center of the room. But, what I think I should do, is take a lesson from Foucault and the Internet dissidents, and use the Internet for the knowledge and power it can provide for me for those who seeks to control it and eventually me as well. Gradually, I am beginning to realize that social media forums are not necessarily “panoptic” by design; I am excited to be learning all the benefits of social media, and of open source programs and software.