LAU MEI YEE, SID: 20031967, Blog post 1.

Andrejevic, M. (2002). The Work of Being Watched: Interactive Media and the Exploitation of Self-Disclosure. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 19(2), 230-248. 

The article of Andrejevic (2002) mentioned that our privacy is not disappeared, the accurate expression is “a shift in control over personal information from individuals to private corporations”(p.243). I agree with his argument as our daily life related to internet and technology, it gives us convenient, no matter time or costs. However, it seems we need to pay back all the price in another way, our privacy and lives in society being collect, store and manipulate. 

The ‘surveillance’ used in observing worker’s training and calculated the efficient way to improve their productivity at first. And then the experimental venture of DotComGuy, lived with surveillance can attracts sponsors on his experiment. it reveals an important signal to us that being watched can make profits and people seems not really care about personal life would be exposed. 

The ‘reality’ TV and VCR technology is a typical example that shows how private corporation rationalising the work of watching and being watched. TiVo provide record function and suggestions that matching their interests of what they recorded before, avoid commercial advertisements and so on. Providing convenient to attract people to use it, instead, if it can record your interests, it shows that your watching behaviours are being watched. The selling point of TiVo is making possible customised programming and products, people can customised their own television experiences but self-disclosure in the process of self-expression. And it is more widespread on the internet and social media. Such as Pinterest, people need to sign up before using, and provide what aspect you interested, in these process, it seems like what Andrejevic said “mass customisation” to create your own content, however, it is for increasing their market and productivity. In that moment, people become to free labour and it always happen in the social media, people provide their lives details to gain more followers and attraction, but in the meantime, their interest, behaviour pattern enter to the scrutiny, for both side, followers or being follow. 

Our life seems cannot get rid of Internet and social media because you would also get rid of your social life in reality when you shut sown all on-line thing, if you join in, your privacy seems been shrink. I think the question is how to get the convenient of technology and meantime we can avoid surveillance.