Control Responsibility: The Discursive Construction of Privacy, Teens, and Facebook in Flemish Newspapers

Authors

  • Ralf De Wolf Ghent University, Department of Communication sciences imec-mict-Ugent
  • Stijn Joye Ghent University, Department of Communication sciences Centre for Cinema and Media Studies (CIMS) Center for Journalism Studies (CJS)

Keywords:

privacy, teens, critical discourse analysis, control, Facebook

Abstract

This study explores the discursive construction of online privacy through a critical discourse analysis of Flemish newspapers’ coverage of privacy, teens, and Facebook between 2007 and 2018 to determine what representation of (young) users the papers articulate. A privacy-as-control discourse is dominant and complemented by two other discourses: that of the unconcerned and reckless teenager and that of the promise of media literacy. Combined, these discourses form an authoritative language on privacy that we call “control responsibility.” Control responsibility presents privacy as an individual responsibility that can be controlled and needs to be learned by young users. We argue that the discourses contribute to a neoliberal rationality and have a disciplinary effect that strengthens various forms of responsibilization.

Author Biographies

Ralf De Wolf, Ghent University, Department of Communication sciences imec-mict-Ugent

Ralf De Wolf (PhD, Free University of Brussels) is doctoral assistant at the Department of Communication Sciences and connected to the research group for Media, Innovation and Communication Technologies (imec-mict-UGent), Ghent University, Belgium. His current research focuses on the privacy management of children and teenagers, presentation of self and new media.

Stijn Joye, Ghent University, Department of Communication sciences Centre for Cinema and Media Studies (CIMS) Center for Journalism Studies (CJS)

Stijn Joye (PhD, Ghent University) is associate Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences (UGent) and member of the Centre for Cinema and Media Studies (CIMS), Center for Journalism Studies (CJS), the Health, Media & Society (HM&S) research consortium, and Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees (CESSMIR). His areas of research include international news reporting with a focus on the representation of suffering alongside an interest in issues of domestication, colonial heritage and the practice of artistic imitation in film.

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Published

2019-10-29

Issue

Vol. 13 (2019)

Section

Articles

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