Artificial intelligence and automation have done extremely great things in the lives of the world’s population, we are very excited to use its tools. However, these tools are socially constructed; thus, the demand for wise use.

Technology is a simple and layman appellation for artificial intelligence and automation. Examples of technological tools we use daily are smartphones, social media platforms, music streaming apps, video games, online Ads, various smart TVs, and Various applications that are developed to make work easy.

This discussion is on social media use. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Google+, Facebook messenger, and Whatsapp are what we consume daily. The addiction is high for many of us and we find it easy to spill anything and everything on these platforms; most especially on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Whatsapp.

Michel Foucault a French philosopher and historian in his 1975 discussion on Discipline and Punish identifies the evolution of power and how the modern-day state monitors its citizens. Gervasio Chiazzo elaborating on Foucault’s concepts says in her YouTube video that the “modern states have moved away from enforcing its authority physically to enforcing it psychologically.” Thus, making surveillance a modern-day system of control and governance. The riddle now is, “what monitors our actions and controls our minds today?”

Social media is one tool that governs, monitors, and controls our mind. Indhu Rajagopal notes that “ICT powers as technologies of surveillance and individuation” (2014). He writes that “the internet . . . constructs and disciplines consumer” and thereby controls the totality of the consumer (Rajagopal, 2014 ). We become so objectified by social media that we just want to keep posting; we lose ourselves because of the “enticement of technological representation of self ” (Rajagopal, 2014).

Rajagopal writes further that “the internet being used by authorities of state, corporations, etc., for spying and probing into citizens interests; [Also] ICT data-mining through which it totally shapes individuals – their tastes, hobbies, work, and existence” (2014). How much do you post on Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp? What do you post on these social platforms?

Gone are the days when it is only your CV or Résumés that an employer is interested in, today, employers are interested in every part of your life and this includes your social media profile. If you post every day, what do you post? Your nudity, your works, or intellectual discussions? It is imperative that we have self-control, this is because these platforms are media of self-branding. What you post is what you want people to believe about you.

Be careful while writing comments, you cannot say all on social platforms. There is spyware that monitors your phone and computer and they reveal information to third parties. On the internet, you not totally secure even if Apple, Facebook, or Whatsapp tells you that there is an end-to-end encryption code. No, your privacy is not guaranteed! Many have lost opportunities because of their social media life likewise, many have found juicy opportunities because of their social media presence.

How do you communicate and engage with social media tools? Self-branding is important, do it ethically!

Sources
Chiazzo, Gervasio. (2016, October 3). An Introduction to Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish – A Macat Sociology Analysis . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVFtc9_AB2k

Rajagopal, Indu. (2014). Does the Internet shape a disciplinary society? The information-knowledge paradox. First Monday Peered Review-Journal ON The Internet. https://dx.doi.org/10.5210/fm.v19i3.4109.