COMU2150 | Media Analysis Guidelines
Word Length: 1200 words (+/- 10%) Due: September 7, 2026 by 16:00 Brisbane time Submit: via Turnitin on Blackboard Value: 25%
Choose ONLY ONE of the following options:
Option One
As we have established, Michel Foucault proposes that systems of social order, control, and domination 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 selfmonitoring, selfscrutiny, and selfregulation. Technologies of the self avail individuals the opportunity to transform themselves in order to attain a state of ‘happiness, purity, perfection, wisdom, or immortality’ (Foucault 225). But as Foucault makes clear, the main point is not to accept this knowledge at face value, but rather to critically analyse the specific techniques that people use to understand themselves, particularly in relation to dominant discourses and ideologies.
Choose a lifestyle influencer (criteria for acceptable influencers below) who has a prominent digital media presence as a case study. Critically analyse your case study’s social media in relation to technologies of the self. Depending on your own interests, you might pick an influencer whose speciality is health and fitness, fashion and cosmetics, travel, food, or some other lifestyle. The influencer may endorse or subvert dominant social norms. It is up to you, as long as they are relevant to technologies of the self.
The theoretical foundation of your analysis must be Foucault, although you may weave other relevant material covered in the course so far, into your discussion.
Reminder: You will need to read and employ Foucault’s original “Technologies of the Self” for this option. It is linked with this assessment on Blackboard, and is available under ‘Big Ideas I.’
