Foucault’s concept of “technology of the self” refers to anything that helps people alter themselves to best fit an ideal, including therapy, plastic surgery, and self-help books. These technologies of the self intrinsically demonstrate how to be a proper modern person, be it one who is centered, thin, pretty, or productive. Since these ideals collude with the dominant political perspective, “technologies of the self” also function as a mode of governance, or governmentality. Rather than regulating people to fit into an ideal directly, technologies of subjectivity result in self-regulation. … Foucault argued that neoliberalism places homo economicus at the center of politics, promoting a model of people as rational, competitive, self-interested subjects rather than civic-minded citizens. This “subjectivity,” or way of thinking about the self, is furthered by media and discourse, and is achieved through technologies of the self. … People thus regulate and modify themselves along neoliberal principles to receive these benefits.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 38