I believe this is a great image of a consequence of the social web. It’s a picture of a prison that was created based on the ideas of a Panopticon:
Wikipedia: The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The concept of the design is to allow an observer to observe (-opticon) all (pan-) prisoners without the prisoners being able to tell whether they are being watched, thereby conveying what one architect has called the “sentiment of an invisible omniscience.”[1]
Bentham himself described the Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind, in a quantity hitherto without example.”[2]
Bentham could never have imagined the social web (Facebook, Twitter, Brightkite, Plurk, [insert new social site here]); yet, he would have immediately realized that it was a type of Panopticon: rather than one watcher, we have many; rather than a physical space we, have virtual one; rather than a involuntary confinement, we have volunteered. The more people involved in using these services, the more we will feel compelled to use them because there will be consequences to not being a part of the conversation. See my example on how I got a job. I wouldn’t have the job I have without Facebook connecting me to someone I’ve never met.
In other news, I don’t know what to make of this, but it’s another disturbing addition to the social web. Man kills himself and streams it to the web.
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