Following you: Disciplines of listening in social media

TLDR

Pejorative terms such as “lurking” have failed to capture much detail about the experience of presence online, and research has instead focused on “having a voice” in blogs, wikis, social media, and discussion lists. This paper develops listening as a metaphor for paying attention online, offering a productive way to analyze overlooked forms of online engagement and to deepen understanding of emerging disciplines of online attention. The study focuses on social media, examining how these platforms alter the configuration of the ideal listening subject. Three modes of online listening—background, reciprocal, and delegated—are identified, with Twitter serving as a case study illustrating how these modes are experienced and performed by individuals, politicians, and corporations.

Abstract

This paper develops the concept of listening as a metaphor for paying attention online. Pejorative terms such as 'lurking' have failed to capture much detail about the experience of presence online. Instead, much online media research has focused on 'having a voice', be it in blogs, wikis, social media, or discussion lists. The metaphor of listening can offer a productive way to analyse the forms of online engagement that have previously been overlooked, while also allowing a deeper consideration of the emerging disciplines of online attention. Social media are the focus of this paper, and in particular, how these platforms are changing the configurations of the ideal listening subject. Three modes of online listening are discussed: background listening, reciprocal listening, and delegated listening; Twitter provides a case study for how these modes are experienced and performed by individuals, politicians and corporations.