You will Gaze what You are Gazed: Mediated Voyeurism and Exhibitionism on Wechat

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INTRODUCTION
The way in which individuals are obsessed with observing the lifestyles and routines of others has become a controversial topic.Surveillance and monitoring has emerged as a questionable, yet vital, component of modern society.The theme of 'surveillance' is reflected in aspects of social media, as individuals are able to monitor the actions of others despite those actions having any relevance to that of their own.Amongst all the gossip and information shared online by acquaintances, celebrities, and strangers, it has proven impossible to deny that keeping up-to-date with what is accessible online gives a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction.Subsequent to the increase in the use of social media, individuals have become more willing to post texts, emojis, and selfies that represent their personal status.Although, it remains important to be aware that once uploaded on the internet, people would be able to see what is posted, irrespective of whether they were good friends, enemies, or strangers.On the platforms of social media, we are simultaneously seeing and being seen, and such things develop endless interpersonal activities that form virtual social cycles.
The behaviour of observing can be primarily explained by the concept of voyeurism that is frequently adopted in the media and the arts.As Alfred Hitchcock said, "I'll bet you that nine out of ten people, if they see a woman across the courtyard undressing for bed, or even a man puttering around in his room, will stay and look; no one turns away and says, 'It's none of my business' They could pull down the blinds, but they never do; they stand there and look" (Truffaut, 2008: 216).The early work of film theory, as in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema by Laura Mulvey (1975), uses the relationship between spectator and film images to describe the prototype of voyeurism.When we look outside the window or sit in a cinema auditorium, our eyes do not shy away from whatever we may see.Sitting in a dark place, our attention is focused to such a degree due to the obsession of watching, that is, looking into the lives of others and their trials and tribulations, and such an obsession can also be perceived when we are at home.In the cinematic environment, spectatorship is the key to determine the visual pleasure that is mentioned by Mulvey.A spectator is different to that of an audience.Robert and Wallis compare the difference between the two concepts: "[That] they are all looking in the same direction does not mean they are all seeing the same thing" (2001: 148).Although an audience can see what happens on the screen, the concept of the spectator would be more suitably characterised as the film viewer, because what they see depends on their own subjective perception and experience.
As stated in Clay Calvert's book, Voyeur Nation: Media, Privacy, and Peering in Modern Culture (2000), it can be observabed that humans are currently living in a nation of voyeurs, and specifies the voyeurism in the contexts of mass media and the Internet: The obsession "with the mass consumption of information about others'apparently real and unguarded lives, lives, often yet not always for purposes of entertainment but frequently at the expense of privacy and disclosure".(p.2) Voyeuristic motives can drive many mundane activities, incorporating contemporary social-cultural considerations, and represented as a newly-formed conceptualisation of mediated voyeurism that can be associated with the mental status of pleasure, power, and maximizing control.According to Baruh (2010: 203), the mediated voyeurism can be explained as "a common personal trait possessed to different degrees by all 'normal' individuals", and such behaviour can be extensively found in the consumption of media content, such as reality television (RTV) and social media interaction.Traditional media boosts the implications for mediated voyeurism.Sitting in a cinema auditorium, we see people and their trials and tribulations.We are observers who enjoy the dark atmosphere and never intend to turn away our eyes.The early Hollywood firms use skilled manipulation of visual pleasure to create such peering scenarios 1 , which is the historical root of mediated voyeuristic behaviour.Besides, in present-day www.centuryscipub.comVolume 3 Issue 8, 2023 culture, many RTVs, such as Survivor and Big Brother, have been created, and have fostered the intensive exposure of real life scenarios.The spectator is able to view a private insight into the life of others, thus allowing the individual to possess the role of a voyeur.In fact, the voyeur accesses the personal moments and expressions which are readily available for easy and safe consumption, so that such a role tends to be opportunistic (Baruh, 2010: 203).However, as media voyeurs, we might passively receive pleasurable content in the cinema, or from RTVs.
Moving into the digital era, social media enables us to actively engage with mediated voyeurism.Stefanone (2009: 965) has revealed that such social technologies are increasingly used by the younger generation, as more than 50% of them create new media content, such as websites, blogs, photos and videos.Moreover, 95% of college students maintain their personal documents on social media.Through the boom in the use of online content, social media users can actively choose the subjects in which they observe, and they tend to get the opportunity to exhibit their own personal details.Therefore, we play a dual role on social media as both the observed and the observer.Su (2012) describes it as a virtual peering-peered cycle in which the broadcast model shifts from 'many to one' to 'one to many'.This means that many voyeurs can access only one prepared site of media on TV or in the cinema, but under the context of social media, one voyeur is able to perform mediated voyeurism on many sites of subject.
Beyond mediated voyeurism, the term 'exhibitionism' should be mentioned in order to better understand the virtual peering-peered cycle.According to Mäntymäki and Islam (2014: 4), exhibitionism refers to "an extravagant behaviour that is intended to attract attention to oneself".Focusing on the circumstance of social media, on the one hand, users experience pleasure when they voyeuristically see others' personal contents; on the other hand, the virtual voyeurs would re-evaluate their self-awareness and self-identity by comparing and contrasting themselves with the observed personal documents.The essence of online exhibitionism would be a reflection of a desirable self-image, demonstrating superiority to and seeking admiration from other people, which is driven by a narcissistic tendency (Carpenter, 2013: 483).As Egan andMcCorkindale (2007: 2106) indicated, the narcissism that originates from vanity or egotistic admiration pursues gratification from one's own attributes.Such a narcissistic tendency could be satisfied by gaining positive comments, likes, and page views.Consequently, mediated voyeurism facilitates the presence of online exhibitionism, and reversely, exhibitionism promotes and encourages voyeuristic observation by satisfying the individual's narcissistic needs.
Different from the ideas of voyeurism sourced from psychoanalysis, mediated voyeurism is re-considered as a broad, obscure, and abstract topic closely linked with multiple domains, such as culturology, sociology, psychology, and aesthetics.Additionally, exhibitionism is also an interesting concept that should be further considered within the context of social media.It is reasonable to view these two terms as two sides of the same coin.Without one side, the other side would not perform well.In this study, it will be argued that there is a symbiotic relationship between mediated voyeurism and online exhibitionism.The behaviour on social media could vary on different platforms with a range of social-cultural backgrounds.There are three forms of social media platforms that respectively focus and support the acquaintances social cycle, the stranger social cycle and the mixed social cycle.Most of the communication on social networks offers examples of the platforms of the stranger social cycle, and on some popular platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, individual accounts not only support open access to all the users, but also create the switch, restrictively allowing access to acquaintances, which can be considered as social media with the mixed social cycle.One of the most popular social media websites in China, known as 'WeChat', is a primary example of the purely acquaintances social cycle.This platform enables individuals to establish a virtual social cycle according to their interpersonal relationships in the real world, meaning that the individuals on the personal contact list have already had an interpersonal connection with the owner to some degree.Such a social media platform has permeated into every detail of Chinese people's lives in communicative circumstances, such as work meetings, negotiations, friendships, dating, and marketing.Using WeChat as the example, the symbiotic relationship between mediated voyeurism and online exhibitionism will be explored.Firstly, I will explain how mediated voyeurism is generated and what elements can be identified in mediated voyeurism.Based on that, the source, process, and results of exhibitionism will be analysed.Furthermore, I will also examine how mediated voyeurism mutually has an impact on exhibitionism.Particularly in the context of Chinese social media, how the symbiotic relationship works will be accordingly identified.All these theoretical considerations will be supported by the exemplification of WeChat cases in my personal life.Conducting this study will benefit my understanding of the implicit rules inside social media activities, enlightening further practical involvement with the socialised virtual world.nevertheless holds off identification by reminding us that we are engaged in a process of fabricating images.This intervention prevents us from accepting the film on any level as Reality" -Laura Mulvey 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema', Screen, 16(3) (1975): 61.

Mirror Stage
At an International Psychoanalytical Congress at Marienbad in 1936, Jacques Lacan outlined his theory of the mirror stage, which could provide clues to capture the essence of voyeurism.He links the concept of voyeurism to the formation of babies' self-consciousness.Babies experience the mirror stage when they recognise an image in a mirror as their self through a particular visuality and a particular construction of spatiality (Muller, 1985).A baby observes the reflected mirror image and the body itself as a whole, which can be considered fascinating when the baby's bodily co-ordination is still developing.According to Bowie (1991: 23), "The child's attention is seized…by the firm spatial relationships between its real body and its specular body and between body and setting in the specular image".Based on that, a baby could see a coherent form of the body in a coherent and three-dimensional space, which helps to create a pleasing sense of the self-body image and space for the baby, also enabling the identification of other objects in the same space.Such a process initiates the interrelations between subjects and other people or objects, resulting in the sense of the imaginary.Apart from that, the mirror image induces misrecognition by which babies could know that the reflection in the mirror is not their real self.As Hughes (2012) indicated, "The mirror image involves a certain alienation from that is seen: identification of an object world is...grounded in the moment when the child's image was alienated from itself as an imaginary object and sent back to it the message of its own subject-hood".
I can find a metaphor of the mirror stage through the use of WeChat.When I post a selfie on "Moment"2 in WeChat, the photo listed on my timeline is a sort of mirror.I recognise that it is me, because it reflects my individual image.I enjoy looking at it, as it creates an imaginary object that can notify me that the person in the image represents me.At the same time, I also deny that the image is not the real me, thus yielding a sense of alienation, as previously stated by Hughes.Indeed, the photo obtained the image of oneself during the moment the photo was taken, and it cannot show what I am perpetually, as the real "me" always exists in the present.Since then, my recognition and misrecognition of the self-image has been activated.I perform like a spectator who subjectively looks at the actress displayed by my past self.

Eyes and Keyhole
Voyeurism revealed from media contents could yield a visual metaphor.As Martin Jay has written in his work, Downcast Eyes (1994: 1), Even a rapid glance at the language we commonly use will demonstrate the ubiquity of visual metaphors..., vigilantly keeping an eye out for those deeply embedded as well as those on the surface, we can gain an illuminating insight into the complex mirroring of perception and language.
The eye can be considered as the window for a vision reflection derived from cultural essence.In fact, it cannot only be recognised as an organ for the perception of physical identification, such as images, light, and colours, but also emotional sensations.According to Jay (1994: 11), the eye "can be tied to our psychological processes", since it can absorb subjective experiences beyond sensorial characteristics.Compared to the corporeality of vision, the eye can be disembodied, formulating a psychic disposition that allows the individual to be disconnected from the corporeal engagement.
In relation to the perspective of Jay, my experience of using WeChat would be linked to the "eyes" that can develop the rethinking of the vision relating to objects and subjects.I have the ability to browse the posts of other individuals.Irrespective to the photo, video, or audio, my attention is drawn due to the desire to comprehend their posts, and more importantly, I can feel a sort of resonance with such personal information.To illustrate this, when colleagues upload tourist experiences and vacation photos on the "moment", it is possible that I could feel a sense of comfort.On the other hand, the viewing of these "moments" could result in negative consequences, such as the feeling of jealousy, or the feeling of loneliness.An example of this is, for instance, if I were to view images of family or images in relation to my native culture, which may lead to the feeling of being homesick.Here, the eyes not only help to identify the physical existence of those objects contained in the WeChat posts, but also bridge my emotions with those sensations behind the posted contents.As Jay (1994) stated, the pure subject is the product of "the seeing without being seen…one's body is turned into an object of the other's vision for oneself as well" (p.290).In this case, I am the one who is the "subject"; no others can see me when I use my eyes to scrutinise others' information on "Moment".More than that, those people's posts that I have looked at become the "object", just because they are under my vision.Associating the conceptualisation of the "eyes" with my WeChat experience, such a relationship between objects and subjects could further inspire the voyeurism that shapes seeing and being seen.
It remains important to recognise that there is a distinction between pure curiosity and voyeurism.The former is driven by information searching, and reflects similar observational actions to voyeurism.However, the latter, mediated voyeurism, can be seen as a variation of curiosity, described as 'irrepressible curiosity', a 'fascination' with the forbidden, or a 'pitiable caricature of curiosity'.As explained by Rodosthenous (2015: 5), the practice of voyeurism is a kind of forbidden pleasure that is induced by doing prohibited actions.The historical root of voyeurism is sourced from Sartre, and he uses the case of a voyeur caught looking through a keyhole to exemplify what is meant by voyeurism.At the beginning of the peeping action, the curiosity and the self-cogito stimulate the voyeur to experience pleasure with unselfconsciousness, because there would be no one else to perceive his action.Nevertheless, once he is caught, or when he has become aware that others can see him peeping through the keyhole, the voyeur would feel a disruption of his role as 'master of the situation' (Galliott and Reed, 2016: 73), thus resulting in an end of voyeuristic action.In Sartre's (2003) view, pleasure is the pursuit, and peeping or spying is the practice.These can all relate to the self-conscious.Whether the hidden position is safe enough for the individual to continue the pleasure of voyeurism is determined by the voyeur himself.
It can be interpreted that Sartre's explanation of voyeurism contributed to the inspiration behind the design of WeChat, which promotes the atmosphere of the "keyhole" for the function of "Moment".Although the platform allows a stranger to see another's contents restrictively, the contents would be completely accessible if the individual mutually added the other as a friend.This would enable all the accounts on the friend list to be a potential "keyhole".Compared to those social platforms that allow random access, WeChat users know whom they will watch in real life through the keyhole.We are all curious about the lives of our acquaintances, but WeChat could drive the users beyond the role of pure curiosity.There are no browser records in WeChat, meaning that the one being watched on WeChat would never know who accessed their own account and when.Such anonymity produces a secure position for the mediated voyeur.As Sartre (2003: 283) commented, "There is no self to inhabit my consciousness, nothing therefore to which I can refer my acts in order to qualify them".In WeChat, the active users who intend to see others' personal information can be considered mediated voyeurs, because their voyeuristic acts are protected through being secretive in nature, that is, without being seen by the account owners or anyone else.There would be a certain transcendence when the one is peeping at the other's personal contents, as mediated voyeurs forget themselves and become immersed in the world behind the "keyhole".Sartre also indicated that "I see myself because somebody sees me" (2003: 284).If an individual's voyeuristic acts on WeChat are perceived by others, it would sharply reduce their willingness to use "Moment", since every mediated voyeur is afraid of being noticed.

Power and Control Maximisation
Mediated voyeurism could produce a series of links with other esoterica.To begin, mediated voyeurism has a correlation with power.As also suggested by Sartre (2003: 283), the keyhole has an imaginative meaning that unfolds the notion of secrecy, and such a secretive image is the symbol of the gaze that represents the practice of power over someone else.When viewing others' WeChat accounts, I play the role of a voyeur who gazes at the other, ensuring they acquire the other's privacy through the keyhole-like channel.I acquire a form of privilege, since there is no need to pay any return to the seen.Similar to the scenario in which the master has full control over the slave, I gain superior power compared to the one who is seen.This would be a mirror that helps me to reflect and learn the social identities of others (Oyserman, 2007: 435), and the ones being seen can do little to resist the disadvantageous position.Furthermore, mediated voyeurism provides an essence to control maximisation.Blau (1986: 21) focuses on the exchange and social life, and identifies that the social exchange 3 occurs with social attraction and intrinsic rewards, particularly in romantic relationships.However, the most explicit nature of voyeuristic behaviour is that the voyeur would use the gaze as an absolute power over the observed, since it makes little contribution to the social exchange.Conversely, the voyeur is trying to maximise their power position by avoiding involvement with the activation and development of social connections, because being seen would decrease their gaze power over others.Therefore, voyeurs tend to be private and individualistic, corresponding to the substance of voyeurism, and aim to reduce face-to-face interaction and exposure in social situations (Mäntymäki and Islam, 2014: 4).In accordance with these characteristics, they expect to enjoy solely the isolated prerogative position and maximise the power to control others' privacy in a dark and sealed space.

Surveillance and Intimacy
Following Sartre's view, mediated voyeurism could create vulnerability between surveillance and intimacy.On the one hand, a voyeuristic look creates intimacy between the seer and the seen, because the voyeur forgets himself and fuses with the object of his look; according to Sartre, "My attitude, for example, has no 'outside'; it is a pure process of relating the instrument (the keyhole) to the end to be attained (the spectacle to be seen), a pure mode of losing myself in the world" (Sartre, 1992: 348).In other words, voyeurism could relate to fascination, a pattern of losing the self in the act of looking.This would reveal a spectacle for the seen objects, remaining in the voyeur's pre-reflective consciousness; therefore, the proximity is an essential component of voyeurism.Furthermore, surveillance is also embedded in voyeurism.According to the definition by Galič et al. (2017: 32), "Surveillance is largely physical and spatial in character and largely involves centralised mechanisms of watching over subjects".More importantly, it fosters the exercise of power through the direct impact on and disciplining of the observed.
I will exemplify such ambivalence between surveillance and intimacy using my romantic relationship through WeChat communication.For example, in a situation involving one member of a relationship being situated in China, and the other member residing in the United Kingdom, a physical distance is created.As a result, the use of WeChat is able to contribute to easy methods of communication, thus aiding the maintenance of the relationship.The use of "moment" can allow the feelings of comfort and pleasure, as instant communication acts as a bridge between the distance.The sharing of daily activities and emotions, and the privacy of sending instant messages, it becomes possible to imagine what another individual saw, spoke about, and felt.However, in this situation it is possible to still feel unsafe if unable to control the situation.It is possible that as a result of WeChat, an individual can become jealous or suspiscious, and as a result act as a detective through other individual's WeChat posts.As Sartre (2003: 283) described, the pair of concepts serve as "both instruments and obstacles".Ambivalence just reflects the mixture of pleasance, power, and control maximisation sourced from mediated voyeurism.

Self-disclosure
In contrast to voyeurism, which attempts to create a form of transcendent self with concealment, exhibitionism allows someone to detach from the fascination of the forbidden, and abandon themselves to the gaze of others.The difference between this pair of concepts can be perceived by understanding the term 'self-disclosure'.Originally, as defined by Jourard and Lasakow (1958: 91), self-disclosure is the "actual portrayal of the self to others".Similarly, Pedersen and Higbee (1968: 511) describe self-disclosure as "the process of making the self known to other persons".It could be said that the essence of self-disclosure is to make others aware of "my" existence.
In interpersonal relationships, self-disclosure delivers the communication of personal information, thoughts, and feelings to other people.However, a voyeur would deny doing so.Instead, they are disconnected from interactions with others, and embrace the power of the one-way gaze.In other words, voyeurism avoids self-disclosure (Mäntymäki and Islam, 2014: 3).On the other hand, people's self-disclosure could be actively shared through exhibitionism.Exhibitionism overwhelmingly promotes people's desire for self-disclosure, driving them to frequently present their private details in public in order to attract the attention of others (Koskela, 2004: 199).Motivated by display, vanity, and superiority, the individual who has higher exhibitionistic preference is more likely to demand social attention and be more active to reveal self-promoting information.Therefore, in are both products and producers of their environment.They affect the nature of their experienced environment through selection and creation of situations".Combined with the voyeuristic behaviour, the theory reveals that the individual observes others, and correspondingly adjusts their own behaviour, which can be treated as a modelling process.Albert Bandura, Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1986): 4. exhibitionism, the intention of self-disclosure is not to develop trustworthy interpersonal relationships, but to follow one's narcissistic tendency.
The self-disclosure motivated by an exhibitionistic driver could be perceived from their WeChat usage.As Derlega and Grzelak (1979: 176) state, the key functions of self-disclosure include social validation, self-expression, relational development, identity clarification, and social control.With regard to my personal experience, firstly, I use Wechat to validate my self-concept or self-value.For instance, I always share my artistic experience on "Moment".If more approval and acceptance were received from acquaintances, I would take this as confirmation that my artistic effort is valued.Sometime, I post some meaningless and irrelevant things, since it could help me to release negative feelings and stress.Besides, through my posting on WeChat, the interpersonal relationship between the others and me becomes closer and more intimate, particularly when new friends are added.This can create new interactions and increase my familiarity with others.Furthermore, I expect to clarify my personal uniqueness that can differentiate me from others.Posting selfies is a common method to delineate a self-image for young females, which can enhance their self-confidence by comparing their personal distinction with that of other similar persons.Finally, the posted contents can be selected with a specific purpose.For instance, a girl's selfie could be edited before being posted on WeChat.The motivation in doing so is that the one expects to receive favourable feedback from interactions with the acquaintance circle.All these exemplifications provide a reasonable explanation for understanding the formation of exhibitionism.

Media Presence of Exhibitionism
Performing exhibitionism needs a channel, because the exhibitionist should choose a proper place to demonstrate their self-disclosure as much as possible.A relatively long-lasting evolution for such behaviour has been revealed, particularly since the rise of visual technologies starting from the 1880s.During that time, as Yesil (2000: 2) describes, "Maximum visual stimulation resulted in the ascendance of the eye", which shows that the success of graphic reproduction developed the seedbed for cultivation of exhibitionism 4 .In the "therapeutic" climate of the 1960s in America, people were obsessed with exhibitionism driven by narcissistic tendencies, with the individual seeking attention from others to satisfy their self-esteem.They tended to believe that public actions represented the inner personality.Based on that, people started to extensively use extroverted self-expressions of appearances, such as dress, actions, and facial expressions.By doing so, they felt more self-conscious, which facilitated a greater intention of pursuing self-validation through various media.Photography became the pioneer method to produce self-representation; films activated the celebrity culture with a deep desire for the camera lens; and TV, as a new media technology, enabled each individual to enjoy dynamically visual entertainment in their own living room, and promoted sharing the self-consciousness of performance through home-made videos.
Following this trend, exhibitionism became mundane, through involvement in RTV programs.Through the TV screen, the unscripted interaction of amateur actors could be exhibited to the public, so that the characters' non-directed self-disclosure would be delivered to abstracted viewing audiences, since these "real people" could not know who would watch the programs, and their inner thoughts and feelings would be disclosed through a digital signal in a variety of ways to groups of recipients.As White (2003: 13) explained, "RTV shows are usually taped rather than broadcast live, highly edited, and rely on such conventions as hearing the participants' private conversations to produce meaning".In fact, those RTV participants are already aware that they are watched, and just because of this willingness to be watched, an increasing number of people are trying to take part in the RTV.For instance, more than 6,100 people tend to apply to be on Survivor, whereas about 35,000 applications are sent to The Real World produced by MTV (Yesil, 2001: 4).This trend significantly facilitates the development of a celebrity culture, because it creates the vision that allows ordinary people to become popular or widely discussed.I used to be a big fan of such a celebrity culture.When I was watching The Voice of China (a franchised RTV from The Voice of Holland), the stories of those grass-roots singers were extremely touching, which allowed me to create a fantasy that what was performed on the screen might happen to me.As Stefanone et al. commented (2008: 109), "RTV has introduced a new idea into; namely, that the interactions of everyday people are worthy of the attention of broad audiences, and that anyone can become a public celebrity -special talents, looks, skills, or wealth not required".The show gave me a form of empathy or immersion with the characters, who can gain favourable popularity, reputation, or public recognition.Also, it inspired in me an "idle dream" that I could be a celebrity if I were to adequately demonstrate my personality and singing skills, and I even imagined what qualities would be appreciated by an audience.I repeatedly imitated those plots in the RTVs and performed in front of my friends to verify if I would be capable of participating in the show.However, the only feedback I received was light-hearted teasing.Now I realise that social media such as WeChat are just another type of channel to cultivate the celebrity culture.Celebrities on WeChat could behave like ordinary people.Their exhibitions provide real ordinary people with references for behaviour.By imitating the acts performed by celebrities and then posting the results on "Moment", individuals can acquire a sense of popularity, resulting in a stronger intention to display their exhibitionism.It nourishes the culture of viewer-as-performer thriving in the social networking of acquaintances.However, I would say that exhibitionistic acts in the real world could obtain much more authentic feedback than the ones on WeChat.Sometimes, I have posted imitations of those celebrities.Although they were intended as jokes, I always received hypocritical praise rather than negative comments.On WeChat, the spread of celebrity culture is just the breeding ground of narcissism.

Narcissism
The development of an exhibitionistic culture through mass media inspires the desire for self-disclosure in digitalised circumstances.According to Stefanone (2009: 964), RTV consumption with its authoritarian behaviour as well as the users' offline social context can be considered as the antecedents for the acts of non-directed self-disclosure via blogs, online photo sharing, and online video sharing.Indeed, the development of information technology enables the virtual world to be socialised and inter-connected.On WeChat, the propensity to self-disclosure can be shared depending on many factors, such as personality traits (e.g., introversion/extraversion), characteristics (e.g., social anxiety and gender), and a general tendency to trust others (Thon and Jucks, 2014: 4).Furthermore, the degree of anonymity of social media platforms has an explicit impact on the willingness to perform exhibitionistic acts: "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog".The more anonymous are the conditions that the circumstance has, the more people self-disclose, as a high level of anonymity could be perceived as providing a reduction in self-disclosure by social media users.Anonymity plays the role of forming an artificial boundary between discloser and recipient.However, such security as is created by anonymity would only exist through the user's subjective perception rather than the objective provision status (Christopherson, 2007: 3039).This advantage allows exhibitionists to disclose their personal information in a more simplified and convenient way.
It would also enable one's narcissism to be dramatized and exaggerated.As Wang and Stefanone (2013: 14) state, narcissism combined with extrovert personality traits contributes to self-disclosure, and in turn, influences the frequency of use of social media.In other words, narcissistic persons would be more willing to self-disclose their exhibitionism through the greater intensity of social media usage.In relation to WeChat, and according to my personal experience, I cannot deny that those who are more outgoing are more narcissistic, resulting in a higher occurrence of their personal contents being uploaded regarding an imaginary illness or artsy-craftsy story-telling.Once I had a quarrel with a friend.However, instead of directly communicating to solve the problem, I started to post a lot of dramatized lyrics on "Moment".On the one hand, I did this purposely, as I hoped he would apologise to me, but on the other hand, I revealed my narcissistic tendency.
There are several main components in narcissism, including self-love, inflated self-view, self-serving bias, and demands for a display of entitlement.Narcissism can be divided into two dimensions.One is grandiose narcissism, which includes "a desire to maintain a pretentious self-image, an exhibitionistic tendency, and a strong need for the admiration of others" (Rohmann et al., 2012: 279).In the example above, I did not admit the mistake I had made, but chose to implicitly hint to my friend that he should make an apology, as I felt it was necessary to maintain the dignity of my self-image.Thus, I attempted to attract his attention and console him through continuously disclosing the exhibitionistic contents on WeChat, as I knew he would see them.The other dimension is vulnerable narcissism, which "is characterized by preoccupation with grandiose fantasies, oscillation between feelings of superiority and inferiority, and fragile self-confidence" (Rohmann et al., 2012: 279).The emotional fluctuation caused me to hover between feelings of superiority and inferiority, thus making my self-esteem vulnerable.Sometimes, I perceived that I was much better than my friend, but sometimes I also felt self-abased in front of him.According to Abel et al. (2016: 33), such a complex mental status can be called "fear of missing out", which can be defined as an "uneasy and sometimes all-consuming feeling that you're missing out -that your peers are doing, in the know about, or in possession of more or something better than you".In fact, during the WeChat communication, I was afraid he would be better than me, and meanwhile, I was afraid of being excluded by him.When I was in the state of fear-of-missing-out, I experienced irritability, anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy (Song et al., 2017: 734).I believe that the co-creation of the two kinds of narcissism drove me to exaggerate the exhibitionistic acts on WeChat, as I not only wanted to disclose myself, but also feared being excluded.It could be argued that such ambivalence created by narcissism overlaps with the vulnerability between surveillance and intimacy triggered by mediated voyeurism.

The Age of Exposure
Social media has filled our life, encouraging us to reveal our self-biographical expressions toward the outside world.We keep publishing updates about our lives and thoughts by joining the network activities.Within the social media context, WeChat, incorporating the microblogging function of "Moment", enhances our exhibitionist tendencies.People accept and enjoy the acts of recording and publishing their daily life activities or banalities on the platform.As Munar (2010: 409) indicates, an increasing number of "immediate thought" or "immediate observation" are being broadcast through social media whereby instant communication and lightness of being result in a less reflexive practice of interactivity and self-portrayal.When I had some memorable feeling or observations, I chose to post a piece of message on "Moment" rather than responding to these issues.On the timeline, those so-called memorable or trivial details could not be put in any order of priority while I was reviewing them.I was confused that I was no longer able to identify what should be considered as memorable to me.In Munar's words, we repeatedly store and share those utile parts of daily routines and thoughts since WeChat represents "the dilution of the frontier between what is considered as being essential for one's biographical record" (2010: 409).
It could be said that social media is developing the culture of exposure of blogging regardless of whether individuals have already been involved in digital exhibitionism.It encourages people to share all the intimate details of their private life on social platforms, because this fashion has become a form of ethics.According to my personal observation, there are two types of emotional exhibitionism on WeChat.On the one hand, some people seem to be addicted to "Moment", engaging with a great degree of intimacy, and expressing emotions and personal opinions about different issues.My uncle was such a WeChat exhibitionist.He had only learnt how to use a smartphone two years previously, but he was extremely dedicated to the social media interactions.On WeChat, he was concerned about current politics, traditional culture, Chinese medicine, history, military issues and so on, and he had a group of friends who had the same hobbies."Moment" was just like a conference space where he presented his personal opinions and held continuous discussions.Unlike his inarticulate appearance in real life, he was impassioned and talkative in "Moment".Although he knew that his exhibitions would be appreciated within his interest community, he still wanted to show off his erudite knowledge to those uninterested users who could view these contents.On the other hand, some other users treat "Moment" as a public diary to announce activities of their daily life.I was one of these.I would post images of the restaurant in which I ate, my feelings about the films I had watched and the experience of whichever attraction I had visited.I also used some intimate and emotional expressions to recount those things I exhibited in "Moment".I was aware that I tended to show my self-biographical expressions because others did the same, and at the same time, I was the guide to lure others who had not previously been involved into participating in the aggregated exposure culture.

Technological Progress
In the mass media contexts, we are the spectators who mainly enjoy the voyeuristic position using a third-person angle of view, but it is quite rare to participate in the acts of exhibitionism because we have little chance to be the performer.It could be said that the mass media contexts create a theatre-like relationship between spectator and performer, which allows us to be the voyeur and to facilitate the desire to be an exhibitionist.Ordinary people go to the theatre as they expect to see a life that differs from their own.In the context, it gives a separation of worlds between the on-stage and the off-stage.On the stage, the performers' acts are highlighted by electric light, whereas the spectators are hidden in the dark auditorium.Delgado and Caridad (2002: 99) describe it as follows: "No longer were the audience and actors occupying the same space, the audience, in effect, had become voyeurs".By accessing the performers' appearance, relation, actions, and emotions, spectators would receive pleasure and indulge in the gaze that is the representation of power over the performer.Theatre creates a cave-like place for viewing, which delivers intense views that can be conveyed into a form of haptic touch.By repeatedly looking at the objects, spectators are given a sensory involvement by which their sight can become tactile (Machon, 2013: 78).

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Web 2.0 enlightens the development of social media, manifesting the possibility of the "two-way gaze" whereby one can play the double role of voyeur and exhibitionist.Upgrading from the interactions with theatre-like media content, people can use the first-person-based views to replace the third-person angle, allowing us to be the spectators in the auditorium as well as the performer on stage, simultaneously in a single media channel.Social media can be the bridge that opens up the connection between voyeurism and exhibitionism.It is just the integration of the visual media culture derived through theatre, cinema, and RTV.On the one hand, the "keyhole" that promotes the voyeuristic culture enables social media users to minimise the possibility of being noticed by others, which is similar to the situation of a spectator sitting in the dark auditorium.On the other hand, the celebrity culture that is rooted from RTV remains and indeed, is extended on social media platforms (Stefanone et al., 2010: 513).Within that culture, people are considerably engaged with exhibitionism, whereby they tend to disclose more privacy to others.Under the double pressure of voyeurism and exhibitionism, a fantastical pleasure can be fostered through accessing others' personal details with either an aspirational or oppositional attitude towards the "being seen".In response, their self-recognition could be modified or strengthened to disclose desired images in the virtual social interaction.
According to Munar (2010: 419), "Digital exhibitionism provides the necessary grounds for the development of digital voyeurism".Due to socialised technologies, the boundary between the memorable and the ordinary tends to be vague, and division between the public and the private has been also challenged.Cultural norms and technological advancement are integrated and so proliferate, which dilutes the frontiers of the traditional view of social life.This significantly activates the desire for self-disclosure as well as voyeuristic tendencies.The increasing amount of exposure of privacy on social media promotes social control.The personal contents related to cultural and technological factors create virtual identities for users.Whether seeing or being seen, users could interact with exhibitionism and voyeurism by controlling those virtual identities with considerable interactivity and speed of action, since the anonymity and informality of social media changes the traditional channels of the style of communication as well as the behavioural patterns.
The emergence of social media has led to a change in understanding of voyeurism and exhibitionism.WeChat, as one of the most popular social media platforms in China, also inherits its essential nature from the mass media.It allows users to see others' personal contents and simultaneously to create contents that can be seen by other users.As Boyd (2007: 132) commented, people "are going online in order to see and be seen by those who might be able to provide validation".WeChat has unavoidably absorbed such a universality of social media, which unquestionably cultivates the development of mediated voyeurism as well as exhibitionism.
It is a loop that converts those things I used to see into the things I am willing to show.In my WeChat list, I had a friend whom I admired very much.I tried to see what he posted every day.From his contents, I had learnt a lot.He was in extremely good physical shape since he went to the gym regularly.I started to follow these actions.Every time he travelled somewhere, he would write about it in the WeChat journal and post it in "Moment".I imitated this.He loved to collect miniature green plants in his room.I also did this.He was a person with exquisite taste and qualities, and there is no doubt that I was jealous of his lifestyle.Through the voyeuristic acts, I attempted to become the same type of person, and I was more willing to share all these wonderful things on WeChat.Since then, this seemed to become a fashion and my other friends started to follow my steps as well.Reflected from the case, my exhibitionistic motivation would not be supported if I peeped at nothing when I played the role of voyeur, and so it is evident that voyeurism and exhibitionism can be regarded as two sides of the same coin in the social media context.

Symbiotic Interaction
I would argue that the co-existence of voyeurism and exhibitionism on social media is symbiosis.Originally taken from biology, the term 'symbiosis' describes the "intimate interaction between different organisms, where at least one of the parties is obligatorily dependent on the association as a part of its life history" (Leung and Poulin, 2008: 107).We are the spectators and the actors on social media, simultaneously acting as voyeur and exhibitionist.In other words, we are not only the consumers for private contents, but also the content producers.Social media reveals its duality displayed like a monolithic black box (Mäntymäki and Islam, 2014: 5).This symbiosis could be maintained because we continuously obtain gratifications through the voyeuristic and the exhibitionistic acts.Furthermore, the symbiotic relationship is mutual.On the one side, voyeurism, which exerts power over others could contribute to increasing self-disclosure, resulting in an enhanced motivation to perform exhibitionism.On the other side, the exhibitionistic behaviour could activate one's irrepressible curiosity to see how others would www.centuryscipub.comVolume 3 Issue 8, 2023 react to the disclosed self.Therefore, the circulatory incentives allow the mutual interaction between voyeurism and exhibitionism to be sustained on social media.
The symbiosis highlights the importance of mutual dependence, which can be perceived from the co-created gratifications through the consistent voyeuristic and exhibitionistic acts by the same person.On WeChat, I was satisfied when I received appreciation.The lifestyle, the artistic articles, and classical music I shared on "Moment" manifested my special personal identities, which could deliver the differentiated expressions between others and me.Such gratifications driven by an exhibitionistic motivation could meet my narcissistic desire to establish an improved social self-esteem.Besides, when I viewed others' contents, I enjoyed the guilty pleasure since I saw the others' privacy without being seen, and thus had feelings of superiority and power.In fact, such a guilty pleasure is one particular product of spectatorship.When looking at a forbidden thing, people feel guilt because those objects should not be seen.However, the pleasure of looking is equivocal, which can be surprisingly strengthened by the sense of guilt, since it involves "such delights as feeling one has committed the crime yet is able to escape the penalty.The pleasure of watching is continuous with the pleasure of peeping" (Bentley, 1991: 156).I still remember the first time I added my girlfriend to my WeChat list; I spent almost half a day reading all the posts in her "Moment" timeline since 2013.I felt a sort of satisfaction, since I had accessed her past memories by viewing the nearly a thousand posts.I obtained a sense of achievement, and I thought I was able to understand her better by doing so.However, there was a sort of guilt in my mind, as my conscience told me I was acting like a thief who was trying to control her by stealing her secrets.I should have to be more magnanimous.My morality had not stopped me from such peeping acts.More seriously, it was an unknown power that drove me to read these personal details again and again, though I could already recite all the contents.I tended to be more motivated to post a lot of things related to her past on "Moment", by which I wanted to indicate how much I cared about her, and I expected to receive his positive response to satisfy my self-esteem.She frequently asked me why I knew things about her that she had almost forgotten, but I did not tell her the truth.I realise now that my voyeuristic behaviour produced the guilty pleasure, which enabled me to connect with the exhibitionistic WeChat usage.
I think such a symbiosis between voyeurism and exhibitionism depends on who is seeing and who is being seen.Although I may be interested in peeping at some strangers' privacy on WeChat, it would barely transform it into the motivation to perform further exhibitionistic acts.If I changed the target to a stranger rather than my boyfriend, I cannot imagine why I should carry out corresponding exhibitionistic actions.Rather, I believe the symbiotic interaction is selective and purposive in nature.Commonly, it reflects the interpersonal relationships among acquaintances.WeChat is just an example consisting of an acquaintance social circle.In Wu's opinion (2014), the formation of Chinese social culture is structured by the acquaintance relationship.WeChat, as the virtual form of Chinese interpersonal relationships, could explain why the symbiosis between voyeurism and exhibitionism is selective and purposive.
When I add a new friend on WeChat, we already have the connection to some degree in real life.Through the introduction by intermediary acquaintances, my acquaintance circles could be extended on WeChat.Under such a social-cultural context, people trust the acquaintances rather than the ones who have not been acknowledged in the acquaintance circles.In fact, "Moment" on WeChat has a rule whereby I can see others' comments and likes on a third person's post if we have friends in common.For instance, if Tom and I are the common friends of John, when Tom comments on John's posts, I can see it.Otherwise, I will not see what Tom leaves on John's timeline.Thus, it could be said that the fundamental elements of WeChat are the nodes of the acquaintances.Only acquaintances interact and have a mutual impact on each other.Thus, checking the "Moment" information nowadays becomes a process of an identification card exchange or the submission of a resume.
People tend to decorate "Moment" on purpose instead of posting random things on it, because we know those who can see our posts are acquaintances who would have an impact on our real life.Unlike those social platforms that allow an anonymous and arbitrary exploration of social relationships, users on WeChat are a reflection of relationships in the real world.Nevertheless, WeChat still creates a form of virtual alienation by which we easily peep at other's privacy, and intentionally and carefully operate our WeChat self-disclosure.We consider what we see through voyeuristic acts, and based on that, we acquire the material to evaluate the person being seen, and this can influence the social interaction in real life.Moreover, we performatively act the exhibitionism on WeChat since we estimate how what we post influences the real interpersonal relationship.In other words, we are both voyeuristic viewers, and we play as the role of exhibitionist to impress the other viewers.Therefore, based on the acquaintances circle, inter-connected voyeurism and exhibitionism are symbiotic, because this pair of behaviours on WeChat would mutually reflect people's real life.

Social media and Self
Due to the symbiotic effect played by voyeurism and exhibitionism, social media has changed the existence of "self".Everyone has the opportunity to put their ego into the social exchange.In particular, Franco Berardi, an Italian Marxist theorist and activist, reveals this scenario in his Soul at Work (2009).In the socialised digitalisation, it is not only our bodies that are engaged in the economic and social activities, but also our minds, our interior selves, and our subjectivity are all involved.Social exchanges, especially works, devour people's privacy, secrets, and intuitions.In the infinite social exchange in the virtual world, we are the work force, the driving energy, and the end product.A great world-mind is being formulated through communing in a massive ecstasy of instantaneous communication, which is increasing in velocity.People are pulled and pushed by the surveillance and intimacy, because we exert the power of voyeurism over others, and simultaneously others also exert the power over us.Berardi exemplifies how conventional intimate relations are changing due to semio-capitalism5 : a special focus on the emergence of the first connective generation, those who learn more words from a machine than a mother.In this transition, a mutation of the conscious organism is taking place: to render this organism compatible with a connective environment, our cognitive system needs to be reformatted.(Berardi, 2011: 29) The overlap between previous voyeurism theories and Berardi's is that both correlate to subjectivity, imagination, and intimacy across the social and corporeal body, but the latter provides a clinical diagnosis that is important with multiple spectrums, such as cognitive, affective, linguistic, semiotic, desiring, economic, organisational, and mediatic processes, because social media is an emerging fact that exponentially intensifies the dynamics of voyeurism.The author also mentions the outcome of such collective subjectivation -"we get sick" (2011: 5)which could be considered as the pathology of depression, as well as a crisis in subjectivity.People are actively submitting themselves to the regime, and it was the deepest levels of intimate communication that triggered the global economic crisis.I feel this so deeply because I find the uniqueness of my fellows is gradually being replaced by "assembly line" personalities.Particularly on WeChat, my acquaintance circle tends to be trimmed.Facial expression, body language, or even the camera angle are almost identical when posting selfies, and feelings, attitudes, or phrasing are almost identical when delivering personal opinions."Moment" produces voices of blind submission.Just like Munar (2010: 409) describes, there is a "dilution of individuality" which makes our thoughts and emotions "immediate".As soon as there is any unconfirmed news or rumour, people are desperate to share the information; as soon as a celebrity dies, people rush to mourn regardless of whether it is the first time they have heard that name; and as soon as there is a fashion trend, people follow it like sheep.WeChat is like a booster to propagate this instantaneous fever.Sometimes, acquaintances may invite me to vote for them, or they ask me to like their posts.I feel exhausted with such endless social interactions and hypocritical intimacy in WeChat.As a consequence, I have blacklisted those posts and left my timeline blank.My acquaintances devote themselves to the WeChat interpersonal relationships, and their privacy is treated like a product in the social exchange.Their pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are like the products from manufacturing.The eyes, or more specifically, the mediated voyeurism, are the trade method to arbitrarily sell and buy one's personal details.Individuality and differentiated subjectivity are likely to be the standardised collective awareness.
While the technologies have enriched the symbiosis between voyeurism and exhibitionism, our ego has been extended in the digital world, which changes the understanding of the self, the nature of possessions, and the relationships with things.Within that, dematerialisation, re-embodiment, and sharing contribute to the formulation of the extended self (Belk, 2014: 477).Our eyes are losing their power over physical possessions.We used to write words on paper, save music on CDs, and print out photographs.I have an old pair of slippers, hand-knitted by my grandmother; she died, so I keep them, as they have great sentimental worth.We attach ourselves to those physical objects, and these objects can be seen as the incarnation of people.However, due to the emergence and popularity of social media, the stored information, such as photos, videos, music, and texts, is becoming invisible and immaterial.Those physical objects that should have been the symbol of a particular person are conveyed into digitalised and virtual forms.On WeChat, I can still recall my emotions and experiences through peeping at or displaying the virtualised objects, but I might permanently lose the opportunity to signify those objects with my feelings, as my physical association with the objects has been disconnected.I posted a lot of images of my grandmother, but they did not give me a strong sense of loss compared to the knitted slippers, just because I cannot touch them.
Re-embodiment appears because we are disembodied and re-embodied as avatars by use of visual Internet conditions.We use different means to decorate ourselves on social media and give meanings to these decorations.As Zhao (2008Zhao ( : 1816) indicated, we have considerable leeway in our visual self presentations online, despite a fairly high degree of similarity to our physical appearance.I feel that the avatar I have on WeChat is a kind of digital representation of myself.Before posting a selfie, I always edit the photograph.In addition, I select the most satisfactory selfie as the profile photo.When others check my profile, that photo will make the first impression and play the role of my avatar.Besides, I have changed all the default settings by replacing images with ones that can be modified, because I expect to personalise every corner of my profile to show myself.I will design the visual representation of the account, give it my name, and learn to operate and become familiar with it.Thus, I am gradually re-embodied, and I increasingly identify the personal profile as my avatar.On WeChat, although I know the avatar is not the real me, I still desire to play a character of the perfect ego in my expectations, just like Tronstad (2008: 259) mentioned: "If we obtain a feeling of 'being the character,' it is most often through embodied empathy with an entity that is partly (an extension of) ourselves, and partly a separate entity that can be identified as a character".
Through the voyeurism and exhibitionism on social media, we share ourselves with each other.Similar to other social media platforms, WeChat is a cornucopia of information, entertainment, images, audio, and video that are accessed, downloaded, and shared for free.Sharing is an ordinary way to communicate.However, the virtual circumstance accelerates the speed and the frequency of such behaviour.Personal information used to be completely private or shared with family members and close friends.However, on WeChat, the diary-like privacy has been reduced.Instead, anyone who is added in the friend list, no matter who they are, has access to see our daily activities, connections, and thoughts.Sharing facilitates the willingness for self-revelation.Before using WeChat, I was a reserved person who never discussed myself in public because I thought it would make me feel awkward.However, by extensively reading and viewing my friends' biographies on WeChat, I gradually accepted these things.I thought their contents were ridiculous, grandiloquent, and naïve.I knew those people who were showing off their luxury cars had just borrowed the car from the car rental service; the couple who declared their love in "Moment" were lying as both of them cheated on the other; and those people who regularly shared success stories and motivational slogans just wanted to attract more gullible individuals to their pyramid scheme.Our disinhibition and our confessions tend to be replaced by the endless acts of sharing.The increase in sharing acts reflects the loss of self-control, which leads to the aggregation of self-identity in the digital world.I learned from and simulated others' posts on WeChat, and meanwhile, I created an iterated self-image which provided a reference of self-identify for others: "When things are jointly owned, they are also likely to be more relevant to the aggregate level of self-encompassing those with whom they are shared" (Munar, 2010: 486).Once the posts were launched to "Moment", I felt the appearance, motion, and the emotion no longer belonged to me; they were publically owned by all the acquaintances that viewed my self-expressions.My aim was to join the collective aggregation of self-identity.My own private space had gone.Before we started to use social media, our privacy, secrets, and thoughts were hidden in the physical space.The "keyhole" was there and was rarely found.However, social media has become the key to unlock all the keyholes, and although we can re-lock the keyholes, the inflated exhibitionistic motivations prevent us from doing so.Cyberspace has ground up all our private worlds, and mixed them together.

CONCLUSION
Maybe I am pessimistic, and I yearn for the past.From my words, it is not difficult to find the anxiety, confusion, and frustration when WeChat changed my lifestyle.I still think myself unique and differentiated from others.I miss the feeling of freedom that no one can control how I arrange my expressions of social activities.Through my participation in WeChat, the symbiotic effect of voyeurism and exhibitionism drove me to spontaneously forget who I am.It changed the normal forms of interpersonal interactions, and became a sort of revelry for the "eyes".After the immediate happiness produced from the acts of peeping and the overwhelming self-disclosure, our emotional lower limit to identify satisfaction is continuously increasing, and only meaningless vanity remains.In other words, we are finding it increasingly difficult to be satisfied by normal social interactions.The voice in the depth of my heart tells me that I should keep the self rather than wallowing in online voyeurism and exhibitionism.I might not completely avoid such WeChat addictions, but through this work, I understand all these originate from the complexity of the human soul, which would help me to re-capture myself in the social media era.