KEEP LOOKING AT ME IM LOOKING AT YOU

Title: KEEP LOOKING AT ME, I‘M LOOKING AT YOU: THE STUDY OF EXHIBITIONISM AND VOYEURISM IN FACEBOOK

ABSTRACT

Jimena, Angeleen Lou DS. ― Keep Looking At Me, I‟m Looking At You: The study of Exhibitionism and Voyeurism in Facebook. Undergraduate's Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, 2013.

How social media and the internet came into the current generation is as hard to remember as the overflowing information from different social networking site or SNS across the world. While these SNS augmented the necessity to peer with other users, exhibitionism and voyeurism have been redefined in its subtle occurrence reinforced by individuals being in public. This undergraduate research used Erving Goffman‘s theory on the Presentation of the Self in the Everyday Life determine how exhibitionism and voyeurism affect an individual‘s perception of the self and the social media environment through conducting interviews with Facebook users. The study yielded to the conclusion that personal goals perceived as the need to project oneself as competent motivate users to pursue exhibitionistic and voyeuristic behaviors. Furthermore, peers and technological innovations intensify the necessity for consumption. Lastly, despite Facebook being solely a front stage for the display of performance, the researcher concludes that Facebook, in fact, served as a back stage, an extension of the corporeal sometimes a contradiction, for it is perceived that what cannot be expressed in person can be expressed in Facebook, for what cannot be seen in person can be the seen in Facebook. The researcher recommends studies on social media and consumption focusing on gender differences and further studies on Facebook through analysing the medium itself and conducting textual analysis.

Keywords: exhibitionism, voyeurism, Facebook, social media, self-presentation, social networking sites