Society cannot exist without social control. As Durkheim noted, the problem of anomie occurs when there is not enough social control. However, when there is too much control, societal progress is constrained by a lack of autonomy and human agency. As such, a problem of modern governance is not so much constraining the tyranny of the many, but instead restraining the tyranny of the affluent few. It is a relatively few powerful people in society, who control the agency of the many by engineering hegemony. The powerful achieve their aim of influencing the narrative by controlling the mechanisms of knowing and their implementation. Thus, the mass media must be understood as an ideological tool, one that is appropriated by its controllers to engineer an epistemology of society.
Foucault’s panopticon is an example of top-down structural power: the few watching the many. What is often overlooked in Foucault’s concept is the significance of socialisation. An epistemology of society instils knowledge and understanding of the different social contexts in which we understand and conform to hierarchies of power, and the norms of expected behaviour. As such, social control is achieved and maintained by accepting the rules that govern our behaviour in various milieux. However, if we reject the knowledge that inform the expected forms of behaviour in different social contexts, then the panopticon has no power to discipline souls. For example, the prison is the generally accepted social context of punishment, in which a few prison guards observe and control the behaviour of the many prisoners. Social control is initially maintained by depriving the prisoner of the rights and freedoms taken for granted outside of the prison, and creating a system of power, informed by dependency. However, after the prisoner becomes acclimatised to their new milieu, power and control within the prison is maintained by the fear of further forms of internal – rather than external – deprivations. Nonetheless, it is important to note that humans are not always passive actors. Some prisoners do not conform to the norms of behaviour that is integral to the effective functioning of the prison environment. Prisoners can resist the prison’s institutional socialisation and develop strategies of resistance, which militate against the status quo.
Mathiesen’s concept of the synopticon, in which social controlled is achieved by the many watching the few, also suggests that social actors are passive. However, unlike Foucault’s top-down panopticon, Mathiesen’s synopticon contends that social control is maintained from the bottom-up. He argues that we have become a viewer society in which the consumer habits of the many are controlled by a relatively few media organisations and consumer companies. They distract us from the reality of our material situation by controlling what we see, think, consume and how we act. This is demonstrated by the public’s obsession with TV celebrity culture and the way in which we spend exorbitant amounts of time interacting on social media sites. However, Mathiesen overlooks the way in which actors appropriate social media to mobilise, empower themselves and affect social change. This is demonstrated by how social media has been appropriated in the Arab Spring, Slutwalk, #MeToo and Black Lives Matter protests, which have to some extent become social movements. The use of social media from the bottom-up has also highlighted institutional discrimination. This was seen during the vigil for Sarah Everard and the racial profiling of Bianca Williams, and her partner Ricardo dos Santos.
Both the panopticon and synopticon are means of knowing. They provide us with an epistemology of society. However, they overlook the dominance of the culture of individualism in modern consumer society, which the powerful employ to constrain the momentum of social and political changes. Although social media platforms have brought the problem of persisting inequalities to the attention of wider society, the public – as agents of change – lack the power to control their own narrative. Consequently, the rug is always shifting below the feet of the powerless, who continue to dance to the tune of the powerful. In our neoliberal society the zeitgeist is that of the individualism of social moments, rather than the collectivity of social movements.
How can we use social media to control the political narrative and empower the powerless? Would changes in the law to regulate social media empower the few or the many?
SOCIAL ACTION SOCIETY C.I.C. 
Ellie
Being a young mum-
Narratives
Stupid
Entitled
Thrown our lives away
Not deserving of social
All single mums because the dad ran off
Claim benefits
Spend all our benefits on beauty and fashion whilst our kids aren’t dressed properly
All do drugs
Get pissed every weekend
Kids will be bums
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Corinna- culture- I was not born in this country and therefore my cultures differs from those in the UK. I often talk about my “home cultures” back in Germany and this is my way of empowering myself against something that was used to bully me, I often share some of the things that are different to UK culture. However I do get side tracked by ads or other peoples drama on social media and that possibly prevents me from doing as much as I could to raise awareness on issues.
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Morgan- I experience inequality to my gender quite frequently, as a female who is involved in the car/automotive community, I am quite often treated as if I don’t understand. My most recent experience of going to a garage, was negative in that I walked into the office first with my key, and my partner who was behind me was addressed and asked what the problems were first. The same thing happened when we picked up the car. I asked what was the problem and the man explained to my partner the issues, completely disregarding me. Even though I was paying.
I have a social media account dedicated to my passion of cars, and I am part of a group who advocate for women who are into the scene but disadvantaged. I don’t directly post about the issues regarding my experiences as in my opinion, it is useless. Gender stereotypes can’t be broken down that easily, and by posting about these issues, you will also receive a lot of hate saying everyone is equal etc. when this clearly is not the case.
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I use social media to voice on many different topics via broadcast but also by getting people to interact back I use social media by allowing people to also sit on table and voice their opinions when I found out my son had autism I came to social media to raise awareness and it was a positive experience
But when I used social media to challenge the media’s post written about travellers setting up on car parks etc I had a lot of hate come back
Lauren
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Ryan Samuels. I am going to discuss race as being black using social media has had a negative impact on me. I can’t actually remember what the post I put up on twitter was I think it was a football post. I had comments from people calling me a black this black that. I feel as if many people are not awake to the true intentions of the people in power. So nowadays I refrain from posting as I feel it falls on deaf ears or I will just be ridiculed and end up arguing with everyone.
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Woori Chae
As a Korean woman, I belong to a social group. I think it is the most revealing and main characteristic of my identity. This means that discrimination is hidden everywhere in life as a woman in Korea. Or, discrimination may be openly revealed without being hidden. Starting with the gender wage gap, there is also a glass ceiling that prevents people from being promoted beyond a certain level once they enter the workplace. Korea is a great country, ranking first in gender wage gap in OECD statistics for several years. Living in this country, I have been active in the human rights club at school since middle school. We talk about the situations that socially disadvantaged people face and do things we can do together with friends. That’s how you belong to a social group and have a voice. The way the media talks about socially disadvantaged people is quite important. In particular, there are many media outlets in Korea these days that report on gender conflict between men and women as an issue and advocate discrimination. Accordingly, people are incited by the media to actively support discrimination and attack each other. I am realizing that the media has a huge impact on our daily lives.
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Emily – Gender
2.) In society women dominate certain work sectors including: education and catering focused jobs. However, there is a lack of women in managerial roles; which also offer a higher wage. Thus, women are disadvantaged economically and in the workforce.
3.) I don’t think i have used the media to empower myself or my social group.
4.) The media draws a lot of attention to crime against women – in which there is moral panic and respectable fears. Although this can be effective and initiate campaigns and awareness, there is limited media attention on the economic disadvantage women have in society.
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sophie – As women living within a society which is still influenced through gender inequalities we are left to feel lost within the sense of reality and this sense of virtual-reality. Through the synoptic network society of the many seeing the few, we allow the media to reinforce this sense of social control. This is especially seen as women are massively influenced through the mass media to solely base their values around beauty and the need to have this perception of a “perfect body”. The media synopticon reinforces the capitalist society as women and young girls are influenced to still focus on the way they portray themselves within society through these values of beauty, and men are still the main focuses of the political social structures that we live under. Why are we not questioning the views that are passed down to younger girls influencing them to base their values on that of beauty?
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I believe my culture and religion which is Indian reinforces my primary sense of self and my feelings and belonging and who i am in society. One real life example of how this social group has experienced inequality is linked to gender in India where the female labour force is only 25% so they treat men and women different in the workplace in India. I don’t really use social media to empower my social group but do come across a lot of videos that do for example on TikTok where they explain the histories of the culture and religion of Hinduism in India. Finally the media distracts me from advocating for things that my social group view as important is by entertaining the society instead with films and music etc.
Priya.
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Yeonsu : Access to media is the most important thing. It is important to realize that we can have efficacy in politics and society through the media. In order to do so, the reaction of the public in the media should be actively reflected in the policy-making process of politicians who have a direct influence on people’s lives. The process of collecting opinions of politicians who have the power to make decisions should be carried out widely to the wider public through media interactive communication. Everyone can freely express their opinions through the pure function of the media (anonymity, contemporaneity, etc.), and a social atmosphere that reflects this should be created.
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It’s crucial to discuss ways to empower the powerless, transform them into agents of change, and regulate the societal narrative. Additionally, while tools like social media raise awareness about inequality, they often fall short in driving tangible change.
Yein Kim
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As the grandchild of someone who was a part of the Windrush generation, it still feels like there’s an undertone of not belonging here. Some still hold the idea that we came over and took all the English jobs when in reality we came over and did the jobs that the english refused to do. As a result it feels like there’s unequal opportunity in present day society. I want to contribute to society just like any white person born on english soil and I shouldn’t have to deal with bias in the employment process (for example) just because of my background- Tyrrell
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Niyaz
Speaking on Palestine and Israel I feel as though my brothers and sisters of Islam in Palestine are being affected by a genocide. Every time I see a the news talking about this case it always feels one sided that they are only talking about Israel’s perspective and forgetting about Palestine. If you look at more justifiable sources for this case like Al Jazeera they have uploaded a video from babies being born to kids under the age of 18 that have past away from the bombing listing all their names showing people what Israel is doing slaughtering innocent kids. The way me my family and friends have used the media is by speaking in this subject more and uploading videos on social media trying to spread the news of the killing and pain innocent Palestinian people are going through. The media can distract me and other people by for example the news now have moved on from Israel and Palestine going on about Ukraine again because this is what the “people” want to see even though some news channels just want more clicks giving them more revenue and money.
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Seungjoo lee
– Gender
The inequality that women experience under patriarchy continues to this day. Some people ask Isn’t gender inequality a thing of the past? Called. However, inequality is still being reproduced to this day. Even today, women receive lower wages than men and are sometimes commodified. To help eliminate this gender inequality, I share feminist Instagram posts through social media and also make posts to raise awareness of this inequality. However, the media sometimes changes the meaning of these posts in a way that is different from the original intention, making others look bad about it.
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Sage –
I feel strongly connected to two different subgroups in sexuality and gender as a queer woman, I often see inequalities in my friends social experience and I’ve experience it myself.
I have a shared lived experience with my other female and/or queer friends, one where public spaces aren’t often accessible or comfortable for us to be in.
An example of this could be the exclusion of people in terminology and conversation. This happens often in professional/educational settings, I find that it’s often because people aren’t familiar with queer people, and aren’t completely comfortable using that terminology. It often ends up being an added afterthought of “oh, or gay marriage” or “and trans people too”. Queer people are often the afterthought in many educational/professional settings where diverse types of people in these communities are not entirely socially integrated yet.
I’ve also seen and experienced the inequalities that most women face. This comes from many facets, with it coming to physical fear when people (most commonly older men) would follow you. It comes in an emotional sense where women are denied opportunities, or offered to “get ahead” in degrading means.
Being sexualised and marginalised as a queer woman is a typical experience, in communal and interpersonal spaces. However, empowerment can be found through safe spaces (often created by and for the queer community, or by women for women). But when straight allies and male allies give a voice to these issues, it can become easier to integrate into these spaces that usually aren’t accessible.
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Connie
I believe the patriarchy is a huge issue and it is portrayed on the media by many others who feel the same way. From my experience I feel as if some males feel they have this hold and power over women. They feel as if they have the right to catcall, harass etc. countless times have I experienced this, men catcalling, sexual harassment, it goes on. I personally do not use the media to express my voice about this, however if an individual from my social group shared a post regarding the same issue then I would either like or comment so they know they have my support. When I think about it, the media does distract me from advocating things that my social group would view as important because as soon as I open my phone , my feed is filled with adverts or posts that I was talking about only 10 minutes ago. the media listens to your interests and feeds ur mind things that you were speaking about only a few minutes ago and grabs your attention .
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Hyoin Jeong
– Race
Although the world is becoming global and embracing multiracial and multiculturalism, the problem of racial discrimination still exists. As an Asian woman, I have experienced racism. These were trivial things, such as laughing while surprising me or greeting in Chinese, but racist remarks and actions felt unpleasant. Recently, a Korean tourist who visited Milan, Italy, was subjected to racial discrimination and assault. Locals sprayed capsaicin spray on Korean faces and even stole their belongings. I think many people should be protected without suffering from these unequal problems. As we encounter global issues through social media, I know how great it is to be influenced by the media. Multicultural policies, such as prohibition of discrimination and education on mutual cultural understanding, should be actively implemented, and awareness of correct desegregation, not incitement by minority media, should be planted. Here, we must look at the media objectively and act with more alertness.
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Suwon Han
Gender
Globally, awareness of gender equality has been increasing; however, media with biased perspectives on gender-related issues still exists. As people are significantly influenced by media based on societal control and atmosphere, it is crucial to respect diverse perceptions of gender. Moreover, the persisting gender expectations remain problematic. In Korea to prefer men over women in hiring, it still happens. This preference is often attributed to career gaps caused by maternity leave. Despite parenting being a joint responsibility, gender expectations and stereotypes contribute to such outcomes. This issue is closely connected to South Korea’s serious low birth rate problem. Therefore, to achieve genuine equality, it is essential to examine gender issues in the context of social change and emphasize the importance of respecting gender while avoiding discrimination.
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Islamophobia: the intensification of racism against Muslim communities in the UK shows that Islamophobia is growing in the UK, and highlights its structural nature across British society. Islamophobia in the UK has deep roots that manifest in many forms. As an.racism ,gender
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