A Qualıtatıve study to understand the role of influencers in the formatıon of the consumıng individual in terms of ımniopticon surveillance

In every period of history, political, social and economic powers have attached great importance to surveillance practices in order to maintain their existence. Surveillance practices were used for different purposes such as controlling and disciplining societies in accordance with the conditions of the period. On the other hand, it is seen that every period in which political, social, economic and technological conditions prevail brings with it its own periodic conditions. Societies under the influence of living conditions create the ideal lifestyle and individuals that vary according to their characteristics. So much so that the capitalist system, which transformed with industrialization, is based on working and producing in order to maintain its existence. The productive individual needed by the period was explained through panopticon surveillance. In the period we live in, the main purpose is not to produce but to consume. As a matter of fact, what is important in this period, which is conceptualized as a consumer society, is to increase the consumption desired by the system as much as possible. In this context, surveillance practices based on guidance and control are today carried out on the basis of creating the consuming individual. For this reason, the study focused on the position of influencers who gained power within the social media-based omniopticon surveillance wheel. In this thesis study, the position of influencers, who are the products of the omniopticon surveillance environment, within the surveillance system and their role in creating the consuming individual are examined. In the research, interviews were conducted with twenty-two participants who follow influencers on Instagram. As a result of this research conducted with a qualitative approach, eight themes were identified. As a result of the study, it has been seen that influencers are included in the surveillance and surveillance wheel by offering content focused on entertainment, exposure and narcissism, they offer ideal lifestyles containing similar motifs, and individuals turn to consumption to achieve the exemplary ideal lives they spy on. Influencers have been identified as part of the contemporary commercialized surveillance culture's effort to create the consuming individual