Date of Completion
2025
Thesis Type
College of Arts and Science Honors
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Teresa Mares
Keywords
digital realism, algorithm, algorithmic imaginary, surveillance capitalism
Abstract
In this research, I outline current understanding of social media platforms and their relations to gender identity and agency. I conducted ethnographic interviews, which I provide details from in conjunction with autoethnography, in order to contextualize how these themes interconnect, specifically how social media platforms create and enforce normative categories like gender and remove privacy from the user in exchange for digital conveniences. Overall, I find that surveillance is a state of control that young adults have become resigned to, further adumbrating their potential for exploitation, and that while less vulnerable, digital realities cannot compensate for what the physical lacks.
Recommended Citation
Wilson, Bee, "A Better, Safer World: Agency, Masculinity, and The Implications of Social Media for ‘Digital Natives’" (2025). UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses. 153.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/castheses/153