Reading the Article “Tearing Gas” by Tufekcic, I discovered many things I had never known before.
One of the issues that surprised me somewhat was that there is an alliance and surveillance that “can monitor almost every click, and often does. (In fact, non-clicks are also scrutinized: Facebook tracks status updates that people start and then delete, so as to better understand why they decide not to post.)”
This thought is scary. Although I am well aware that the government will monitor my consumer behavior, I didnt realize how in depth they would really go.
I think back to all the statuses that I would post, and then later on maybe delete, and I think to myself, “Is this really that significant for them to know?”
Government surveillance seems to go a bit far, however even thought the government may have control over us, with media we have control over them.
Another topic that was new to me was brought up in the article. And this was that there were a few instances in which people used social media to overthrow the ruler, government, or law. The author states that “Resistance and surveillance: The design of today’s digital tools makes the two inseparable.” I like this quote because it is very true. Resistance against the government occurred in Turkey not too long ago.
It amazes me that when protesters in Turkey went against the police, due to the bulldozers uprooting the trees in Gezi, the rest of the nation found out via twitter versus any other type of communication. This is due to Turkeys surveillance on Television and newspapers. Protesters grew quickly in amount when the fact that police were using tear gas and water gallons to stop the madness. The crowd was so fed up it only grew versus diminishing.
Now social media doesn’t always have a good effect on the society, however it is our tool to use in a negative or positive way. Either way I strongly believe it is important to let people be aware of what is happening within their society, at least.
Another instance in which I strongly agree with the author is when she is talking about the specific ideas coming from books/experiments about surveillance. She says “The Panopticon is a thought experiment: a model prison meant to control a society of prisoners. But we are not prisoners. We are not shackled in cells, with no rights and no say in governance.”
Overal we as a society need to do better than just be aware of the surveillance, like Tufekcic states, “We need to consider how the power of surveillance is being imagined and used, right now, by governments and corporations.”
New Media 