Cyberstalking Project Proposal

7/31/2019 Cyberstalking Project Proposal

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Renee Powers/Problem #2/p1

Introduction

Since the beginning of Facebook, my friends and I have wasted time Facebook

stalking. Though this term is used in jest, cyberstalking is no laughing matter. Social

networking sites like Facebook highlight the commodification of relationships that rely

on mass participation. The value of these relationships is cheapened and can be exploited.

Mass participation contributes to the threat of privacy violations through interpersonal

surveillance. Malicious interpersonal surveillance via social networking sites is known as

cyberstalking. This project will take a critical look at the relationship between social

media technology and violence against women. In an era where participation in social

networking sites is nearly compulsory and social technology is mobile, privacy, security,

and safety are of utmost importance.

Literature

Interpersonal surveillance in the digital age is characterized as surreptitious

strategies individuals use over communication technologies to gain awareness of another

users offline and/or online behaviors (Tokunaga, 2011, p. 706). Social networking sites,

like Twitter, Foursquare, and Facebook in particular, facilitate a mild form of casual

stalking. In fact, some users believe Facebook was created with this intention (Trottier,

2012) and anticipate some degree of monitoring (Marwick, 2012; Trottier, 2012). Other

users sharing behaviors normalize social sharing activities and individuals are likely to

conform (Brandtzaeg et al., 2010). But, serious Facebook stalking mirrors real world

stalking in a number of ways. Termed online obsessive relational intrusion, serious

Facebook stalking can involve unwanted gifts or messages, anonymous monitoring, and


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following a user to virtual spaces (e.g. Facebook groups) or real-life locations (Chaulk &

Jones, 2011). This issue is exacerbated by the ubiquity of social media use.

The power differential is important to note, as interpersonal surveillance involves

a nontransparent hierarchical display of power. The observers goal is closeness whereas

the goal of the observed is autonomy (Tokunaga, 2011). This power dynamic inherent to

surveillance is exacerbated anonymity online, which allow[s] individuals to lurk in an

environment that reduces the threat of being discovered (p. 705). As perpetrators of

domestic violence rely on taking advantage of an imbalance of power (Walker, 2009), we

can assume serious interpersonal surveillance is a form of cyberstalking.

Cyberstalking as a form of domestic or intimate partner violence cannot be

ignored in the digital age. Perpetrators easily have access to a number of cyberstalking

technology: smart phones, monitoring software, social networking sites, online databases,

et cetera. Because of the internets intrinsic lack of boundaries, cyberstalking is difficult

to detect, and cyberstalking as a crime is often overlooked (King-Ries, 2011). It is clear

more research needs to be done in this area to shed light on the issue.

To counteract cyberstalking, some institutions suggest women avoid using social

media and to reconsider their smartphone purchase, contributing to a larger culture of

violence. I propose that we critique such a suggestion to consider the smartphones

relationship to the power structure of society--that is, to how stalkers use such

technology. Women should not be forced to choose between mobile technology and the

potential to be stalked. Instead, institutions and scholars ought to focus on those in power

who wrongfully use this technology to stalk. Such consideration of the power structures

and how mass media can be exploited to control those without power is reminiscent of


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the Frankfurt school of critical theory.

Method

The issue of cyberstalking requires a critical approach to understanding the

relationship among social media, surveillance, and violence. Inspired by Frankfurt

scholar Theodor Adorno (1945), I will argue that social media users are conditioned by

the structure of a social-media-saturated society that keeps its users from criticizing social

realities. In this case, that reality is the threat and ease of cyberstalking. Much like

Adornos discussion of popular music, social media use encourages pseudo-

individualism; the consumer thinks he or she has choices but ultimate must conform to

the ways that other users share personal information. In order to update Adornos

theories, I will incorporate the theory of neoliberalism. For example, when a social media

user lapses on their privacy settings on social networking sites, instead of critiquing the

cultural conditions that facilitate the sharing of private information, the digital culture

assumes the individual should take responsibility. In other words, a user only has him- or

herself to blame for any malicious activity that comes from the lapse. In a social-media-

saturated society, providing information to networking sites has become nearly

compulsory, and so the blame is wrongly attributed. This suggestion complies with the

dominant societal power structure in that it places blame on the victim of cyberstalking.

In this sense, smartphone use is a tool of the dominant power structure. My project will

explore the tensions and relationships among power, technology, and violence against

women in order to find a solution to ensure womens safety in a society that seeks to both

encourage us to participate in information-sharing and to disempower us.


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Significance

Cyberstalking is a serious crime that is often overlooked. In a digital age, it is

unreasonable to suggest women avoid using social networking sites to prevent such a

crime. In fact, this recommendation is akin to suggesting women in short skirts were

asking to be raped. A United States Department of Justice study reported 14% of

individuals age 18 and older have been victims of stalking, 25% of those victims reported

some form of cyberstalking, and 75% of stalking victims knew the perpetrator (Catalano,

2012). If the average number of Facebook friends is 229 (Hampton et al., 2011), the

likelihood of interpersonal surveillance and cyberstalking is quite high. And with the

Violence Against Women Act still in need of reauthorization by the United States

Congress, women should be worried about the protections against cyberstalking provided

by the law. A critical theory approach to the problem explores the structural conditions

that allow these crimes to continue.

References

Notable scholars:

danah boyd

Mark Andrejevic

David Lyon

Journals:

Surveillance and Society

Critical Studies in Media Communication

Computers in Human Behavior


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Works cited:

Adorno, T. (1945).

Brandtzaeg, P.B., Luders, M., & Skjetne, J.H. (2010). Too many Facebook friends?

Content sharing and sociability versus the need for privacy in social network sites.

Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (26), 1006-1030.

Catalano, S. (2012). Stalking victims in the United States Revised. Washington, DC:

U.S. Department of Justice.

Chaulk, K., & Jones, T. (2011). Online obsessive relational intrusion: Further concerns

about Facebook.Journal of Family Violence (26), 245-254.

Hampton, K., Goulet, L. S., Rainie, L., & Purcell, K. (June 16, 2011). Social networking

sites and our lives. Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved October 21,

2012 from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Technology-and-social-

networks.aspx.

King-Ries, A. (2011). Teens, technology, and cyberstalking: The domestic violence wave

of the future? Texas Journal of Women and the Law (20), 131-164.

Lyon, D. (2001). Surveillance society: Monitoring in everyday life. Buckingham: Open

University Press.

Marwick, A. E. (2012). The public domain: Social surveillance in everyday life.

Surveillance and Society (9), 378-393.

Tokunaga, R. S. (2011). Social networking site or social surveillance site? Understanding

the use of interpersonal electronic surveillance in romantic relationships.

Computers in Human Behavior (27), 705-713.

Trottier, D. (2012). Interpersonal surveillance on social media. Canadian Journal of

Communication (37), 319-332.


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Walker, L.E.A. (2009). The battered woman syndrome (3rd

ed). New York: Springer

Publishing Company.

Cyberstalking Project Proposal

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