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“Beyond the Panopticon”: A Surveillance Student Project Showcase

Hello and welcome to our asynchronous project showcase! The following four student projects come from the Fall 2023 semester of Dr. Noah Wason’s “Surveillance and Social Media” upper-division writing course at Binghamton University. Below you will find a description of the two projects students are presenting for this session followed by each presenter’s bio, project, and audio commentary (with transcript). The presentations are arranged in alphabetical order by presenter further down this page, but each project description also has links that will allow you to navigate by project instead. There is also an opportunity to submit questions for our asychronous Q+A session at the bottom of this page. Attendees may interact with the presentations in whichever order and whatever way they choose; however, we have also provided a suggested procedure below. While attendees will have access to the student presenters’ work, we do ask that you obtain permission before circulating these projects elsewhere.

Asynchronous Project Showcase Instructions Suggested Procedure:

  1. Read the assignment description.
  2. Click on the student project you want to “skip” to (alternatively, you can engage with the student projects in alphabetical order be scrolling further down the page).
  3. Download/Open the project and Audio Commentary.
  4. Play the Audio Commentary while you engage with their project.
  5. At the bottom of page are instructions and a link to submit your questions for the asynchronous Q+A.

Privacy Policy Remediation

The second course project asks students to carefully and critically read a data and/or privacy policy from the social media platform of their choice in order to create a clearer, more engaging version of the policy for a specific, non-expert audience. This policy transformation requires students to simplify its language, clarify the larger implications of its terms, and change it form into something more engaging for their chosen audience. The goal is for students to obtain a deeper understanding of what they are consenting to when they sign up for these services by working directly with these complicated legal documents. Project was accompanied by a meta-analysis paper where students explained their rhetorical decisions and overall learning.

DIY Content Curation

This later course project asks students to serve as the “recommendation algorithm” and curate a list of content for their peers that would nudge them towards a specific position on an issue. To persuade their audience, students intentionally sequence their content and create accompanying “contextual primer” text meant to guide their audience’s interpretation of each item in their curation. The goal is for students to explore the rhetorical power of arrangement, the more subtle forms of persuasion present in digital environments, and the potential consequences for relying on algorithms and influencers for both access to and framing of information. Project was accompanied by a “project guide” that provided a behind-the-scenes walkthrough of the curation including its purpose, the intended effect of each entry, and the student’s overall learning.

Student Presentations

Hudson Burrows


I am a senior at Binghamton University majoring in psychology and minoring in both writing studies and anthropology. I took WRIT312 because as an aspiring journalist, I wanted to explore the depth and truth behind modern media. Contemporary journalism is heavily online, and in order to produce accurate information, I must research with integrity and be aware of how information is regulated and interpreted. I learned a breadth of material from this course, ranging from panopticism philosophers like Foucault, the best methods of online dissemination and the reality of regressive algorithms. I now know which corners of the internet to be weary of and feel prepared to enter a field of providing information cautiously and confidently.

Ikra Konukcu

I am senior a Binghamton University majoring in psychology. Enrolling in WRIT 312 was a deliberate choice for me. Without prior exposure to new media courses, my understanding was entirely surface-level. I sought to deepen my perspective and enhance my ability to interpret the dynamic interplay of media in our evolving landscape. The course not only refined my existing grasp of social media’s current landscape but also delved into the intricacies of surveillance, revealing how it underpins the very essence of contemporary media. My key takeaway is a nuanced understanding of both, enabling me to navigate and analyze media dynamics with a more informed lens. 

Callahan Rogers

I’m currently a second semester senior at Binghamton University. I’m a biology major with a primary focus on molecular genetics and cell biology. I took writing 312 as I was interested in how companies, governments, and individuals can track us through our data. The biggest lesson I took away from the class was that all hope isn’t lost, and through research, educating others, and our own choices, we can change how our personal data is collected and used for the better.

Lyd Wyble

I am a junior at Binghamton University, studying Statistics with a dual minor in Digital & Data Studies (DiDa) and Environmental Studies. WRIT 312 is part of the elective curriculum for the DiDa program, which encourages students to think critically about ethical data collection methods and how data privacy shapes justice. This course was one of my favorites in five semesters at Binghamton, and I believe it has opened my eyes to the omnipresent nature of online surveillance. I hope that my presentation encourages viewers to consider the potential for surveillance from non-obvious sources, because WRIT 312 did the same for me.

Q+A Question Submission

The Q+A portion of this panel is also asynchronous. After engaging with their work, you may submit a question to our presenters via this Google Form. We will then aggregate attendees questions and post our responses to their questions on a separate webpage that will be made available after the end of the DRPC’s Privacy Week’s Event.

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