Michel Foucault proposes that systems of social order and control are exercised through four major types of technology’: 1. technologies of production, 2. technologies of sign systems, 3. technologies of power, and 4. technologies of the self. Of these, Foucault was most concerned with the latter two: technologies of power, which externally regulate the way individuals conduct themselves, and technologies of the self, which have to do with how people control themselves (their bodies, thoughts, and actions) through internal practices of self-monitoring, self-scrutiny, and self-regulation. As Foucault states, technologies of the self “permit individuals to effect by their own means, or with the help of others, a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or immorality (Foucault, Technologies of the Self, 225).
Choose a lifestyle influencer who has a prominent digital media presence a case study. Critically analyse your case study (their website, Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube posts etc) in relation to technologies of the self. You might pick a health and fitness influencer like Emily Skye or Cameron Byrnes, a food and lifestyle influencer such as Hayden Quinn, a fashion and beauty influencer like Akanksha Redhu, or some other kind of lifestyle influencer depending on your own interests (as long as they are relevant to technologies of the self).