EXPLORE PUBLICATIONS BY COUNTRIES

Electronic Eye, Social Capital, Cameras

The video camera symbolizes an intelligible system that seeks to replace mechanically the human eye, in this paper, entitled “electronic eyes”. People’s reaction when realize that they are being observed through the lens of the “electronic eye” are in a variety of ways. Some people get shy, others show themselves off spontaneously, and many of them try to avoid the electronic lens. Can a mechanical eye influence people's behavior? This article examines not only this issue, but it goes further. Considering the increasing number of cameras installed in public and private places, the question is: may this fact cause any change in social relationships? The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the electronic eye’s influence on the concept of social capital. A qualitative exploratory study was performed conducted by semi-structured interviews. The results show that the electronic eye influences on peoples’ idea, on the social relationships, and on the social capital concept. Although changing peoples’ behavior and attitudes, the electronic eye does not replace the human eye, it only complements it. Coined by the authors, the term “electronic eyes”, is a contribution of this study to the Social Capital, conceptually supported by the social philosophy.