Les repercussions sociales de l'e-living (The Social Repercussions of E-Living)

This chapter reflects upon several repercussions contingent on the evolution of e-media. It examines how systems of visibility are transforming in fundamental ways how we relate to our own bodies and to the bodily expressions of those around us. In so doing, the chapter provides a counterbalance to conventional depictions of e-media use: especially technical and commercial portrayals emphasising (and championing) the pleasurable dimensions, desirable features and beneficial outcomes; or liberal utopian articulations underlining the democratic potentials. A sociological perspective is drawn upon to dispense a more critically-informed commentary on some prevailing tendencies associated with persons being voluntarily situated within or plugged into ever expanding e-media circuits: what I like to call visibility architectures (Smith 2014). The chapter identifies several emergent socio-cultural effects that are induced by e-media structures/practices and it contemplates the sovereign interests that are typically served from us willingly and perpetually revealing our presence to an often unseen and unknown audience.