Facebook and Panopticism: Healthy Curiosity or Stalking?

This study deepens existing knowledge concerning social networking sites, with specific interest in the social networking site Facebook and the phenomenon, “Facebook stalking”. By providing insights into lesser-known studies concerning user curiosity and surveillance online, the present research reveals that the terms ‘monitoring’ and ‘keeping up with’ or ‘keeping in touch with’ are most commonly used when referring to social searches within social networks; only when asked to think about surveillance in terms of stalking did interview participants refer to it as such.

The present study aims to discover Facebook users’ perception of their friends’ disclosure while delving into the idea of “Facebook stalking”, specifically with regard to how users define it. Facebook’s evolution and prominence in the public sphere is dependent upon user satisfaction with and general understanding of the functionality of social networking websites. A discussion of these issues is beneficial to understanding how Facebook is used as a modern-day panopticon.

Ficha Bibliográfica

Mary Catherine Kennedy, "Facebook and Panopticism: Healthy Curiosity or Stalking?", College of Communication of Ohio University, Noviembre 2009 Disponible en :http://etd.ohiolink.edu/send-pdf.cgi/Kennedy%20Mary%20Catherine.pdf?ohiou1258038346