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> If people think that they're being surveilled (whether or not they really are), that changes how they think and act. They can never really be themselves anymo

by ryandv 3y ago

> If people think that they're being surveilled (whether or not they really are), that changes how they think and act. They can never really be themselves anymore. Are you suggesting people cannot be themselves when they are being watched through a camera? Wonder what the implications are in the social media era. > MCLUHAN: And this, I think, has been one of the big effects of the electric age. It has deprived people, really, of their private identity. > They become alienated from themselves very quickly, and then they seek all sorts of bizarre outlets to establish some sort of identity by put-ons. Show business had been one way of establishing identity by just put-ons. And without the put-on, you're a nobody. And so people are learning show business as an ordinary daily way of survival. It's called role-playing. https://www.tvo.org/transcript/155847/marshall-mcluhan-in-conversation-with-mike-mcmanus https://www.tvo.org/transcript/155847/marshall-mcluhan-in-co...

JohnFen 3y ago
> Are you suggesting people cannot be themselves when they are being watched through a camera? Yes, this is really well established. Not just through a camera, either. This happens with all kinds of surveillance. For instance, when people are aware of relatively innocuous things such as software telemetry or that streaming services are paying attention to what you watch, they will use the software or streaming differently than if they aren't aware of it. The classic example of this is from the days of Neilsen TV ratings. Neilsen families would routinely do things like ensuring that they let their favorite shows play on the TV even if they aren't watching them out of a fear that if they don't, they're increasing the chances that the show will get cancelled. Or a more modern example: how many people have decided to watch or not watch something on YouTube or other streaming service with an eye toward manipulating the personalized recommendations the service provides? This is also one of McLuhan's points. If we think we have an audience, our thoughts and actions tend to become performative for that audience rather than authentic.

by ryandv 3y ago

JohnFen 3y ago

> Are you suggesting people cannot be themselves when they are being watched through a camera? Yes, this is really well established. Not just through a camera, either. This happens with all kinds of surveillance. For instance, when people are aware of relatively innocuous things such as software telemetry or that streaming services are paying attention to what you watch, they will use the software or streaming differently than if they aren't aware of it. The classic example of this is from the days of Neilsen TV ratings. Neilsen families would routinely do things like ensuring that they let their favorite shows play on the TV even if they aren't watching them out of a fear that if they don't, they're increasing the chances that the show will get cancelled. Or a more modern example: how many people have decided to watch or not watch something on YouTube or other streaming service with an eye toward manipulating the personalized recommendations the service provides? This is also one of McLuhan's points. If we think we have an audience, our thoughts and actions tend to become performative for that audience rather than authentic.