Society of control and social media: #health and #body on instagram

Abstract

This article aims to analyze text and images posted on Instagram under the hashtags #saúde (Portuguese for health) and #corpo (body), based on Deleuze’s notion of society of control. Data were collected using the website Netlytic and analyzed with the software LibreOffice Calc. The methodology consisted of statement analysis from a Foucauldian perspective. The results stress the presence of practices addressing techniques of confession, intervention, and body manipulation as well as control strategies to promote health based on production of truth. These are indications of how today’s health surveillance mechanisms and governmentality strategies are operationalized in the society of control.