Surveillance and Control in Social Media: A Critical Study

Abstract

This study explores social media surveillance and how it uses data control to transform societies. It examines the ontological and social implications of the surveillance paradigm for the digital lives of social media users. It also aims to resolve the paradox of surveillance and control, as social media provides a space for freedom of expression on the one hand, and a space for digital repression on the other. Examining the relationship between forms of surveillance that have been normalized in societies and mechanisms of resistance to them informs an understanding of the profound transformation from a "surveillance state" to a "surveillance society" and then to a "surveillance culture." This consciousness further generates an understanding of the foundations upon which the "age of surveillance" was built.