Digital Sociology Podcast

In episode 7 of the Digital Sociology Podcast I spoke to Justine Gangneux about her work on how social media users engage in the practice of “checking” and “Facebook stalking”. The empirical research she has conducted shows the importance of humour and of taking “guilty pleasure” in monitoring what others are doing. Justine told me about how people research one another to assess potential future romantic partners, the suitability of flatmates and possible friendships among colleagues. This practice Justine refers to as “scrutiny” rather than surveillance as it brings together issues of transparency, care, humour, monitoring and other elements. Justine’s broader theoretical work can be found in her discussion of surveillance. You can follow Justine on Twitter @JGgnx and see her blog https://justinegangneux.wordpress.com/