Daniel Trottier Use Of Social Media

Daniel Trottier, a Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam, explains how interpersonal social media surveillance renders users visible to one another, and these users being both the agent and the subject of surveillance. His recent research considers the use of social media by the police and intelligence agencies, as well as other forms of policing that occur on these platforms. In the article, Trottier looks at Facebook as an exemplar of social media that shapes how we are perceived and how we interact with others. Users can choose to “watch” others as well as make themselves visible and empowering the dimension to this surveillance. The article underscores the complexity of understanding and
maintaining privacy within unparalleled levels of information access. In light of the in-depth interviews that is conducted by Trottier, “creeping” and “stalking” are both becoming problematic methodologies on Facebook. There seems to be no boundary separating the private from the public. Trottier tends to give Facebook users an insight of the unanticipated visibility and the risk of exposure. New risks emerge as an outcome of interpersonal social media surveillance that relies on asymmetrical relations of visibility. Base on the article, he also provides many effective suggestions, such as not the click the “reply all” button on email interfaces. This is advised for people who anticipate surveilling relations with friends, family and romantic interests. Although the vigilance will not offset all potential risks, Facebook users are still expected to be vigilant and use the privacy setting extensively to ensure the leaking of personal information is kept to a minimum. Overall, I appreciated the way how Trottier constructs his paragraph referring to multiple interviews. His writing style and the vocabulary he chooses makes the article interesting to readers. From my perspective, this article is well-written and well- researched.