New Media Culture

There is currently a huge debate going on concerning the constant advance of surveillance technogy.
Surveillance or CCTV is said to be used to protect our cities and our societies but mainly people think it is encroaching on our lives and destroying our privacy. It can also be seen to be trying to change our behaviour with its presence.
The concept of surveillance technology originated frim M. Foulcault's idea of Jeremy Bentham's 'Panopticon', as a symbol of changing technologies' of surveillance and discipline.
Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon was designed to be a self regulating prison integrated with social descipline. The Panopticon was a circular designed building composed of a ring of cells to house the inmates. The control of the wardens was maintained by the constant assumption that the prisoners were always being watched.

Benthams plans for social reform used his technology of architecture to change the prison inmates, he predicted they would gradually become self-disciplined by the endless threat of being watched. I suppose the police have kind of adopted this process by placing CCTV through out cities.
Benthams' prison was never built but his concept is seen in the work of Foulcault and of course in the development of security surveillance today.
Surveillance can be used for two main reasons:-
1. For the collection of information regarding a specific identity.
2. For the exertion of power over an individual by the authorities use of surveillance in public spaces.
The use of modern surveillance systems or 'CCTV' in public spaces now raises the issue of social control and invasion of privacy. On an average we pass 300 surveillance cameras a day, especially in public spaces. Every transaction or interaction we make with other people or other technological devices are used to locate our position. Devices lke mobile phones and cash points are used to record not only our location but our everyday interactions and spending habits.


We are all being monitored to an unprcedented degree and most of us are not even aware of it happening.
It is also apparent that the mere presence of surveillance changes what we are and how we behave, this is because of the 'Big Brother is watching you' kind of messge being delivered by the government. I think this concept revolves around the idea of power and how the surveyor has power over the surveyed. This can be seen as a positive factor of surveillance as the cameras help some individuals feel safe. However a new concept of 'Big Brother' is evolving which is takeing surveillance to a whole new level. People are wanting to be watched 24 hours a day purely to entertain our society. I think this will change the younger generations notions of our rights to privacy.

When it comes to surveillance there will always be apparent issues focusing on our rights to privacy. However what will happen when surveillance advances beyond the point of control. There becomes a point when we cannot protect our personal lives and the data surveillance records and collects. We are even being recorded and watched at work to make sure we are doing our jobs properly. The only place we can take advantage of our rights to privacy is in our own homes, but how long before that is taken from us?

I decided to write this blog on the growing apprehension concerning the effects of technology. In my opinion the relationship between the youth of our society and the growth of technology is slowly getting out of control. This is due to the expansion of the media in every form - from the basic viewing of wars, conflict and terrorism dispayed on the news to the invention of new technology readily available to any child. The development of television has had a huge effect on the amount of time people (mainly teenagers) spend sitting in one room all day. In particular the development of the computer game which is what i want to talk about. Members of our society will literally sit infront of a computer or television screen playing imaginary games with imaginary characters al day. There are many negative issues that have evolved from the ever advancing 'computer game' one being child obesity. That can be blamed on the television as well but many children young and in their teens will be affecting their health by becoming addicted to computer games. It isn't just unhealthy children that is seen as a side effect to over use of computer games but also the hinderance of their ablity to socialise with other children. When i was a kid yeah they had computer games but we spent every free minute outside playing with friends, not sitting couped up on a sofa or study chair.
Helena and I actually live with two boys and we decided to use them as our subjects for this blog, plus we wanted to rant about them a bit! These boys have turned our dining room into a 'blokes room', our kitchen table is covered with a television and playstation 2 box. Their favourite and instantly understood phrase at the moment ia "Pro?" which to us normal people means "would you like to play a game of pro evolution?" Pro Evolution has become the bane of our lives, it is a football game where you are the players. We wanted these photos to display the sheer about of time that is wasted staring at a television screen. Sometimes late at night you can still hear them playing game afer game.

We suddenly realised that these boys are so in love with this form of media that they would rather sit in a small room playing football with their fingers rather than actually going out into the fresh air and playing the game with real people. This made me realise that the development and use of a childs social skills (skills that will be vital in later life) are being left behind and ignored.
I also started thinking about the effects of everyday events like wars and terrorist acts that are being transfered and made into computer games where its fun to kill and causing more damage and conflict means you win! Children will become desensitised to the horrific images we are shown in the news. They will begin to think its a natural act to blow up buildings and destroy cities.
I sound incredibly judgemental towards the development of computer games but there are many games that can be harmless fun, for example, The sims, where you can create your own family, community or city and Car games where you race around in cars (not the one where you have to steal the car first!). I am just concerned with the over use of damaging images that are used to create enjoyment for children. Is the continuous advancing of technology corrupting childrens minds with damaging images? When will we know when to actually draw the line on violence in computer games (the point where we have gone to far) and how are children of this generation going to learn the social skills needed to interact and secure a future for them?