In a society where there is no clear separation between work and non-work, between work time and non-work time, the imperative is to always be ready to perform.
Vilém Flusser imagined the man of the future as one who could do without hands because he wouldn't have to handle anything. The image that echoed in the philosopher's mind is not far from today's reality. The "digital citizen" simply uses his fingers to search for immaterial information, and, fortunately or unfortunately, with digital devices he can carry his work with him wherever he goes.
Bauman (2013) compared workers to snails: just as they carry their home with them, in the same way workers carry their own “ personal panopticons ” on their bodies:
Employees, and subordinates of any kind, have a total and unconditional responsibility to stay fit and always be on task (leaving your cell phone or iPhone at home when you go out for a walk, thus interrupting your state of constant availability to a superior, is a serious case of misconduct).
Social Media Performance: An “Invisible” Domain
Social media is awash with "motivational" posts, all sharing the same idea: working hard to achieve the desired success, from work to fitness. Anyone wishing to lose weight can easily stumble upon posts from incompetent personal trainers peddling restrictive and extreme diets. Physical exercise itself must be continuous and is only effective if it's physically demanding. There's no room for slow, carefully planned, and personalized physical activity.
The philosophy is " no pain, no gain " and appears to have a large following and supporters. It seems that social media fuels in many an obsession with hyperactivity as the only way to achieve their goals. They exert their invisible dominion by offering content that seems intractable if the goal is to become "successful" men and women. They persuade users to communicate incessantly and give rise to a fear: the " fear of missing out ," that is, the fear of being "cut off" from something meaningful if one is not constantly connected.
Social window dressing and the death of anonymity
Social media presents itself as a showcase for all aspects of social life, fostering what sociologist Vanni Codeluppi (2019) has defined as "social window dressing," the prevailing communication model today. Window dressing is a phenomenon with a long history, having its roots in the eighteenth century, when, before being displayed in shop windows to pique customers' curiosity, goods and products were arranged haphazardly in the back room, inaccessible to the public. Instagram is one of the social media platforms par excellence for presenting itself as a "window dressing," exhibiting what Goffman previously called the "backstage." Indeed, the social network presents itself as a gallery of photos published by users, where the private becomes public and happiness—real or simulated—is continually flaunted.
Bauman (2013) speaks of the death of anonymity . With this statement, he argues that only the most rebellious, bold, combative, and resolute resist the temptation to "send the right to privacy to the slaughter." The sociologist is also convinced that it is not a potential violation of privacy that frightens us, but rather the refusal to share it that frightens us. At the root of this urgent desire to extract and tear our secrets from the vaults of privacy by sharing them with our followers lies the need for esteem.
Maslow and self-esteem
As Maslow states: "All people in our society need and desire stable, firm, and ordinarily high self-evaluation or self-esteem and esteem from others." Therefore, for the psychologist, no one is exempt from this need; indeed, those who are exempt represent a "pathological exception." Once we have achieved our healthy self-esteem, which, according to Maslow, is due to the respect others have for us, and not to fame or unjustified adulation, another need remains to be fulfilled: the need for self-actualization. If it is not satisfied, the individual will be dissatisfied. This is the reason for constant performance.
The performance: and the violence of positivity
It's now well known that prolonged and excessive use of social media can pose a threat to the mental health of young people (and not only them), and it's easy to imagine how one of the reasons lies in the constant comparison with others, generated by constantly participating in the display (or staging) of other people's happiness. A happiness that is eagerly spectacularized on social media.
South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han speaks of the " violence of positivity ," stemming from excessive communication and performance. It is precisely this excess that characterizes the "pathology" of contemporary society: a society where everything is measured by likes and where there is no escape from the imperative to relentlessly produce. Social media, with their infinite potential and advantages offered to us "digital citizens," are a stage where, as Erving Goffman would say, we are not faced with actors but with scripts that are carefully recited to achieve a good performance.
Examples? The brilliant student, the tireless worker, the loving parent. To avoid being unaware digital citizens, we should remember that every time we make our private life public on social media, we are prisoners of a digital panopticon . Here, we are tracked, monitored, and controlled, yet we are deluded into thinking we are free. And perhaps, to avoid being dissatisfied with our lives, we should set aside a toxic positivity, the kind often promoted by so many influencers, remembering that those who always expect something new and exciting lose sight of what is already there.
Silvia Rocca
References
- Z. Bauman, D. Lyon, The Sixth Estate: Surveillance in Liquid Modernity, Bari, Laterza, 2013
- V. Codeluppi, Social window dressing: the process of spectacularizing individuals and society, Turin, Bollati Boringhieri, 2019
- V. Flusser, Media culture, Milan, Mondadori, 2004
- B. Han, Topology of ViolenceMilan, Nottetempo, 2020
- A. Maslow, Motivation and personality, Rome, Armando Editore, 2010
