Care of the self in the age of algorithms: Early thoughts from a Foucauldian perspective

Autor: Nguyen Trung Kien
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science - Social Sciences, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 79-90 (2020)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2734-9357
2734-9624
DOI: 10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.10.1.573.2020
Popis: Care of the self, according to Michel Foucault, is the practice of coming back to one’s soul and construct the truth of self. While in ancient times, people cared for themselves by writing in hupomnemata, in our modern times, we use social network sites (SNSs) or social media. These digital platforms have provided users with many technological advantages to conduct the online care of self. Sharing a post, posting a status, tweeting a photo or video, replying to a friend’s comments, or revising stories stored in their virtual timeline is one of many self-care acts in a virtual space. However, these advantages of digital technologies accompany with the challenges of losing freedom or being supervized by algorithms whenever individuals engage in social media. This paper tries to answer the question that how modern practices of hupomnemata and care for self, are supported and manipulated by social media’s algorithms. The paper is expected to contribute a new understanding of the self and care for the self in contemporary social media engagement.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals