Surveillance Society'nin Panopticon'dan Omniopticon'a Dönüşümü: Black Mirror Vakası Bölüm 'Nosedive'

Abstract

Surveillance, which is seen as one of the modern disciplinary methods, is first depicted in the metaphor of the panopticon prison. Using this metaphor and referring to Jeremy Bentham, Michel Foucault discussed the disciplinary role of modern power through the act of surveillance. The authority of the surveillance mechanism that develops against the will of the monitored is criticized during these times. With the development of communication tools, surveillance has evolved from the panopticon, in which a few people forcibly monitor the majority, to the synopticon, in which the many monitor the few, with the consent of the monitored. At the present time it reaches to the omnipticon, in which everyone eagerly watches each other. The new media environments have heightened the irresistible charm of surveillance. The concept of privacy has been transformed for this purpose; the distinction between private and public space has vanished and it has almost become a necessity for lives to be made public with their most private moments. This study aims to read the transformation of surveillance technology in parallel with social change. The episode Nosedive of the Black Mirror series, which deals with the possible side effects of extreme technology in our lives, has been chosen as a case study in this work and examined by qualitative content analysis method in terms of how omnipticon-style surveillance works in new media environments and the type of society it will reveal.As a result of the analysis, it was concluded that surveillance in today's society transforms individuals into a subject of performance and success, causing lives to be nothing more than a showcase, focusing on the quantity that determines the value of individuals, and that in this system where there is no room for negativity, individuals actually experience rock bottom while trying to appear happy by consuming.