On the Internet, the publicity and visibility afforded by the use of social media raises contradictory positions in relation to the protection of personal data online. The Internet’s basic functioning systems and activities experienced on social media unveil the existing paradox between the interest in the disclosure of the self and the protection of personal information. The use of social media entails the controversial co-habitation of both, guiding users towards the passive acceptance of this condition. The functioning systems of Internet services are based on the observation, collection and management of users’ data and metadata, demonstrating that users’ presence online might go beyond their direct control. In this context, users’ understanding of Internet surveillance translates into the normalisation of the violation of personal privacy in order to access online services.
Despite the general awareness of the potential risks, those people who want to use the Internet services try to compensate this condition of visibility by managing the information they share online, giving the feeling of a sense of control over privacy. Although in the digital age the concept of privacy is difficult to classify due to the overlap between online and offline environments, it can be defined as the ‘demand of private space [that] derives from the romantic notion of only being able to be oneself, by oneself’. Privacy’s significance and implications are largely discussed in media studies where it is argued that Internet services and social media platforms make the notions of private life and personal space no longer applicable, suggesting a reevaluation of current understandings of privacy and surveillance. Considering these aspects, this chapter discusses Instagram users’ understanding of privacy and surveillance issues on the platform and how it changes the way they approach the practice of photosharing online as well as the type of visual content they are willing to share and/or protect.
Internet and New Modes of Social Life
