In the book, a prominent sociologist of bureaucracy defined surveillance as “any form of systematic attention to whether rules are obeyed, to who obeys and who does not, and to how those who deviate can be located and sanctioned” (Rule 1973, 40). When we talk about surveillance, we usually think about the internet, data, and security. It is usually used to prevent certain behaviors. It is more related to power, government, and rules compared to gaze. The state usually monitors individuals and groups to make sure their safety. For example, many applications related to our private information and payment accounts like Bank of America need face recognition. Through face recognition, the state can get your information and track your activities from these applications. On the one hand, this provides convenience for people and enhanced security of people’s property and private information. On the other hand, the state can gain useful information from people to predict the future economic trend. Also, nowadays, people are trying to accept being surveillance as part of their life. There is a Korean variety show called Omniscient Intervention Perspective. The program will place many cameras in celebrities’ homes to record their life for 24 hours. This show is really popular, which shows that people have instinctive prying eyes about others’ information.
Surveillance-Ben Cudmore
Surveillance is to be watching or observing closely. When I think about this keyword, I think of private or national security. Whether I am at the airport or a mall, I always feel watched whenever I notice hidden cameras or go through metal detecters. Surveillance also comes into play at a larger scale for monitoring other countries’ activity. However, security cameras only play a small part in surveillance. In this digital era, we are surrounded by surveillance in everything surrounding us. Phones, laptops, watches, doorbells, and even refrigerators can now observe our daily activity. I recall how smart speakers, such as Echo Dots and Google Homes, received much skepticism after reports of them listening in on conversation during the first year or two after its release. As advances in technology continue, I wonder where our society will draw the line to avoid losing their privacy to constant surveillance.
Surveillance- Chloe Whelan
Surveillance has been transformed into a cultural norm that influences western and global societies. The prevalence of recording devices in modern technology have enabled the surveillance, harassment, and exploitation of individuals on a massive scale. This rings true in the reading, which addresses how surveillance is almost always representative of a power relationship. New technology has caused surveillance to become much more prevalent in our daily lives than we may think. Social media platforms such as facebook, instagram, and snapchat, normalize peer surveillance with posts of ourselves and peers on public online spaces. Additionally on these platforms and with our smartphones, systematic surveillance, such as geotags and location services are a form of constant surveillance that allow for the collection of data that is highly specific to our personal relationships, schedules, consumer habits, and social circles. Although this can seem harmless, this systematic surveillance and collection of data are useful and easy to acquire when a user attempts to use this information to harm or oppress another user, thus setting a perfect foundation for this power relationship. Although surveillance systems such as facebook allow for us to stay connected with our friends and family, they also create opportunities for our information to be used against us.
Surveillance – Grace Brogan
As the keyword article suggests surveillance and technology are deeply intertwined. As more aspects our our everyday lives become digitized, opportunities for surveillance through these means increase. On example of this is through social media. Social media encourages users to do things like share their location through geotags, geofilters and things like “Snap Map”, a page on the snap map app which users to see the locations of all of their friends. Social Media has digitized many social interactions leaving them vulnerable to surveillance in a way previously unimaginable. Without a specific tracking device it would be hard to know the exact location of a given person in the past. These days almost everyone carries a tracking device with them in the form of a cell phone. Now even those without the resources of a powerful government can survey those around them to a much greater extent. Another example that comes to mind here is Life360; a location tracking app popular with parents. In the past once a child left the house it might be hard to know exactly where they went, now parents, like my own, can track their child’s every movement even from hundreds of miles away.
Surveillance- Lana Vjestica
Surveillance is described as a close observation. This is something people talk a lot about in media. We’re always worried about being watched when walk into a store, dressing room, or even our laptops. It’s why so many people put a small piece of tape on their laptop cameras. There’s a constant fear of being watched by the government. It reminds me of the movie The Truman Show. The movie is based on this guy whose whole life has been filmed and broadcasted on live television. Millions of people worldwide got to see him grow up and kept up with it as if it was any other TV show. I know many people who have felt like they’re being filmed and watched all the time just like the guy in the movie. It all starts when you’re a child and you walk into a store and see that screen with you in it and a sign next to it that says “Smile! You’re on camera.” We also get anxious when we see social media posts of people saying they’ve found tiny cameras in gym bathrooms and hotel rooms. Worrying about being watch is instilled in all of us. 
Surveillance- Bella Kjellen
The term surveillance refers to the notion of “watching over”. With this brief definition, surveillance is applicable to a number of ideas. It may entail aspects of privacy invasion, data collection, protection, monitoring, or even controlling. The reading touches heavily on the power dynamic between those being watched and those watching. People, governmental organizations, technology, and media use surveillance for different purposes, and ultimately once this ability to surveil is accessible, that people essentially has gained some for of power. This specific keyword reminded me a lot of the film How Not To Be Seen by Hito Steyerl. This short film depicts, “the politics of visibility and the means for opting out of being represented in the digital age”. This film connects to the term “the surveillance society” which depicts that surveillance contemporaneously with the spread of media and technology. I personally feel that surveillance has its benefits (ie. data collection, security, motorization) but at the same time feel that there is a certain degree where surveillance will negatively impact our society. As surveillance infrastructure enhances, so does the amount of footage/data that is collected. My fear is that eventually, it will be virtually impossible not to be “seen” by others whether it be through the naked eye or the lens of technology.
Link to Hito Steyerl’s film: https://www.artforum.com/video/hito-steyerl-how-not-to-be-seen-a-fucking-didactic-educational-mov-file-2013-51651
Surveillance: Mary Margaret Clouse
When considering surveillance, the first thing I thought of was the National Security Agency and Edward Snowden. This idea of massive, wide ranging national surveillance occurring without American citizens knowledge is something that creates a lot of fear within people. The article mentions this specifically, and also discusses the connection between surveillance and data. The idea of surveillance comes up often when considering data because the collection and use of data serves as a form of surveillance, especially by powerful institutions. This idea of a “surveillance-industrial complex” existing as a practicable reality in our present day, especially one which “no one … knows the extent of its reach,” is terrifying and potentially dangerous if it was controlled and used with negative and harmful intentions. The keyword text also discusses how surveillance is a dominant theme in reality television and some dystopian books and action films. Surveillance is an idea that society is increasingly curious about and this curiosity is being reflected in media as surveillance is being seen on a greater scale than ever before.
Surveillance – Chloe Fandetti
Surveillance means “watching over” and is associated with tracking, controlling, gathering data, and invading privacy. Media devices like video cameras, microphones, social media platforms, and satellites are all commonly associated with the term surveillance because they aid in observation. Reality TV is a very interesting concept because people are voluntarily letting the intimate moments of their lives be filmed and shared with the world. The Kardashian family, for example, have completely subjected their lives to the public for viewing. With a whopping 20 seasons, Keeping Up With the Kardashians has been surveilling every facet of the family’s lives for around 14 years. The family has agency, but only to a certain extent. They choose how they act in front of the cameras and Kris has final say over which scenes are included and excluded. However, the Kardashians cannot control the tabloids, paparazzi photos, social media posts, or public opinions about them. Once someone becomes a celebrity, a lot of their agency is taken away and they are constantly being watched. Surveillance, whether it’s reality TV or another form, has efforts to govern or control the individuals under observation, which signifies a power relationship. This idea makes reality TV even more interesting as a concept because people are willingly putting themselves under the power of technology in exchange for money or fame.
Marielle Dibbini: Surveillance
Surveillance can have both positive and negative connotations. The positive outlook on surveillance is the function of protection. The reading mentions that surveillance can be described as monitoring, tracking, observing, etc., meaning that these devices can be used for protection and promote safety. However, the advancement of technology has caused mass surveillance. One’s privacy has become questioned and there is now a lack of trust within our society due to mass surveillance. Teens are constantly being surveilled, whether it’s through their school or home lives. In school, teens are forced to turn in assignments on specific platforms, TurnItIn for instance, that have the ability to determine if their work is plagiarized or not. At home, parents force their kids to download tracking apps that allow parents to be in control and aware of their children’s whereabouts. Although these apps can be seen as forms of protection, these things expose the lack of trust that is arising within our society, due our growing access to technology and new forms of technology.
Gaze – Chloe Fandetti
In the media, women are regularly objectified and sexualized for the satisfying gaze of white, hetereosexual men. One example that comes to mind is the difference between the character Rita Vratowski in the novel All You Need is Kill and the blockbuster film The Edge of Tomorrow. In the novel, Rita is described as a petite, mousy, red-headed 19-22 year old woman. The actress that plays Rita in the film, Emily Blunt, does not share many physical characteristics with the Rita from the novel; Emily Blunt is tall, blonde, conventionally attractive, and much older than 22. In the film, Emily Blunt is the heroine perceived through the lense of the male gaze, whether that be the director, Doug Liman, the protagonist, Tom Cruise, or the intended audience. With popular cinema, it’s usually men who write the films, men who make the films, and men who are the target audience. In the novel, Rita’s appearance is important to her character and the plot as she is often underestimated due to her size. Conventional attractiveness adheres to the male fantasy, so the casting of Emily Blunt fulfills the male gaze while subtracting a part of Rita’s integrity as a character. The male gaze reaffirms the power of the patriarchy by using women as props in the heterosexual male narrative.