<i>Knock, Knock</i>. Who's There? The Imagined Audience

TLDR

The imagined audience—a mental representation of listeners—has guided communication for over a century and now shapes how users navigate public social media spaces with large, invisible audiences. This article seeks to define the construct of imagined audience in social media, examine its significance and tensions with actual audiences, and theorize factors influencing its composition. The authors develop a theoretical framework grounded in Giddens’ structuration theory, outlining how social media contexts shape imagined audience composition. The study concludes by proposing a research agenda that identifies key areas for future inquiry into imagined audiences.

Abstract

For more than a century, scholars have alluded to the notion of an “imagined audience”—a person's mental conceptualization of the people with whom he or she is communicating. The imagined audience has long guided our thoughts and actions during everyday writing and speaking. However, in today's world of social media where users must navigate through highly public spaces with potentially large and invisible audiences, scholars have begun to ask: Who do people envision as their public or audience as they perform in these spaces? This article contributes to the literature by providing a theoretical framework that broadly defines the construct; identifies its significance in contemporary society and the existing tensions between the imagined and actual audiences; and drawing on Giddens's concept of structuration, theorizes what influences variations in people's imagined audience compositions. It concludes with a research agenda highlighting essential areas of inquiry.