Paper short abstract:

This project is an ethnographic examination of lateral surveillance in the contemporary U.S. focusing on two technologies for watching others: home security cameras and social media apps for connecting with neighbors. I am interested in how these technologies shape sociality and fear.

Paper long abstract:

In this project, I seek to understand lateral surveillance in the contemporary United States by an ethnographic examination of two intersecting technologies for watching others – home security cameras, commonly seen on people’s doors or gates, and social media apps for connecting with neighbors and sharing observations and concerns about public behavior in the area. Both technologies have become ubiquitous in urban neighborhoods across the country. I am collecting data through an online survey of home security camera users and interviews and observations at the homes of people who use them. In addition, I am monitoring communication on neighborhood-based applications for sharing information. In this paper, I examine the motivations and uses of home security cameras with a special interest in how this technology shapes sociality and the ways it articulates fear. I also am interested in how the technology relates to social power given that different types of users have very different motivations and fears. Finally, although I do not use personal security devices, I reflect on the complexities of watching the watchers and collecting data about how they collect data about each other.