Networked Audiences

Martina Novotná, Masaryk University, Czechia
martina.novotna@mail.muni.cz

Alena Pospíšil Macková, Masaryk University, Czechia
amackova@fss.muni.cz

According to Marwick & Boyd, a networked audience refers to a mix of personal ties and broader publics connected through digital platforms, where users are not just passive recipients but an active part of a dynamic, interconnected online environment. Unlike the anonymous broadcast audience, the networked audience often includes familiar individuals, making it simultaneously personal and public with uncertainty of its full composition. The emergence of networked audiences is closely tied to the rise of social media, which has fundamentally transformed the context and characteristics of audiences, allowing for a diverse range of activities to be combined both online and offline. With the expansion of social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, audiences have become more fragmented and less transparent regarding who will be exposed to content shared online. Online platforms have revolutionised how individuals produce and distribute content, breaking down the traditional one-way communication model between content creators and recipients. It has resulted in a diverse range of opinions being shared among users in online networks. This transformation aligns with Jürgen Habermas’ concern that digitalisation has expanded and fragmented the public sphere, giving rise to semi-public communication spaces where individuals act as authors without editorial mediation.

Social networking sites converge diverse social groups into a single communicative space, complicating also identity-building. Regarding Erving Goffman’s theory of impression management, people often perform and negotiate their self-presentation for multiple audiences. For example, a political post shared online as a personal opinion may be seen by various actors, such as strangers, employers, family members, or friends, each interpreting it through their own expectations and social norms. As a result, the boundaries between various social roles become increasingly blurred, making strategic self-presentation and the construction of identities more challenging in networked online environments.

Keywords: networked audience, social network sites, self-presentation

Related Entries: Social Media

References:
De Wolf, R., Gao, B., Berendt, B., & Pierson, J. (2015). The promise of audience transparency. Exploring users’ perceptions and behaviors towards visualisations of networked audiences on Facebook. Telematics and Informatics, 32(4), 890–908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2015.04.007
Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor.
Habermas, J. (2022). Reflections and hypotheses on a further structural transformation of the political public sphere. Theory, Culture & Society, 39(4), 145–171. https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764221112341
Li, H., & Jung, S. (2018). Networked audiences and cultural globalisation. Sociology Compass, 12(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12570
Marwick, A. E., & Boyd, D. (2010). I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience. New Media & Society, 13(1), 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444810365313