The Conformity Machine: How Social Media’s Panopticon Shapes Identity

My social feed looks nothing like my actual life. Perfectly filtered photos, witty anecdotes, political rants — this is the show we put on when we know we have an audience. But does the constant glow of the spotlight change the dance? Social media has placed us under constant surveillance, like animals in a glass cage. And like hungry baboons meticulously grooming each other, we curate our online personas, vigilant for any misstep or moment of vulnerability. We immerse ourselves in virtual worlds where we are always on stage, constantly battling for the crowd’s fickle approval. In the physical world, we act differently when eyes land on us — for a brief moment. But online, we are steeped in the constant spotlight, observed, and judged every time we post, tweet, or share. We inhabit a virtual Panopticon, where the steadfast gaze of the crowd subtly but inexorably governs our behavior in ways we don’t even fully realize. Our feeds and profiles cultivate an image, but the tending of that image changes who we are underneath. Do we even know ourselves, or just the roles we play? It all calls to mind a troupe of baboons meticulously grooming each other, picking bugs from fur, and tidying tangled hair. They bond through this ritual, strengthening social ties. But when the grooming ends, their underlying nature remains unchanged. The gaze never ceases for us, and the pressure to conform shapes our instincts in invisible ways. In the glass cage, we call social media, we perform our lives, conforming to imagined expectations. <a href="https://joanwestenberg.medium.com/the-conformity-machine-how-social-medias-panopticon-shapes-identity-d8588d296c2a">Website</a>