Reproduction of Omnioptic Surveillance
Description
This study investigates the sociological foundations of Turkish adolescents’ sharing behaviors on social media, focusing on digital disclosure and exposure practices. Drawing on the concept of omnioptic surveillance, where individuals act simultaneously as observers and the observed, data were collected from 350 students across seven high schools using a 61-item structured questionnaire. A cross-sectional descriptive design guided the research, with analyses conducted through frequency distributions, percentages, means, t-tests, and ANOVA. Results revealed that adolescents actively reproduce omnioptic surveillance in their routine online interactions, perceiving digital disclosure and exposure not as a violation of privacy but as a normative social practice. While gender differences were insignificant, variations emerged across grade levels and school types. These findings suggest that adolescents sustain a digital culture in which privacy boundaries are fluid and continuously renegotiated. The study contributes to debates on adolescent digital literacy, privacy awareness, and the sociological dynamics of networked surveillance.