15. Today's comments

Yesterday I asked on Facebook:

Who do you think about, when you write your statusupdates, who do you have in mind? Your family, friends, church people, school 

mates?

These are the answers I received:

5) "Friends...close friends."

6) "hmmmm kind of no one and everyone at the same time. it is simply a social venting area for me. sometimes i just want to talk but there is no one around to talk to. so the internet gets my mental treasures."

7) "I seldom write status updates on FB - when I do, it is in fact more my own situation or context I write and think about rather than my audience"

8) "I mostly write for my own sake, random thoughts without thinking about an audience. Sometimes I will admit, that the status updates are directed to a certain circle of friends in a very esoteric way." Me: "Do you sometime write to a particular circle of friends one day, and then another day direct your status update to another circle of friends?" "Yes most definitely! Sometimes I direct my status updates to fellow students, other times friends with the same musical taste as mine".

9) "To me it is also different. If I write something about sign language, it is mostly directed to my fellow students because they know what I am talking about. If I write in English, it is directed to my friends abroad. When I put out music, it is unconsciencely mostly directed to those I know, take an interest in that kind of music."

10) "I dont write many updates, but when I do, It is mostly because I want something. Like if I have an IT problem, then I guess I mostly think about ITU students as my audience. If its apartment-seeking (and it has been the case a couple of times), then it is EVERYBODY. My imaginary audience is also effected by who is active on Facebook. I have a tendency to think about those who are active, and will get surprised, if somebody is not usually active suddenly comment on a status update". ‎

14. Comments I have received so far...

I asked on Facebook yesterday:

Who are you writing to when you write your status updates?
Who do you imagine is your audience when you write your status update? Of your network of friends, how many do you have in your head as your audience when you write your status update?




These are comments I have received so far:

 1) "To answer your questions, my children are mostly who I direct my updates to, and most of my audience is family!"

2) "Honestly, generally myself to all the questions. I know I have about 7-10 friends that may regularly comment or "like" something, but it's not really directed toward anyone.....I'm just "thinking out loud""

3) "I think of all those I love and try to uplift them with a positive thought or something light hearted. I think of all of them. Some are my family, some are friends I went to school with and some who I have met on facebook. There are also friends I have reconnected with after 20 years."

4) "I write for myself and assume that most people will ignore it. :)"

Concept of Audience: An introduction

In January I was travelling in the southern states of US and as always I was updating my friends on my travels and experiences on Facebook. Suddenly it hit me. Whenever I am in the US I start to update my status in English rather than in Danish. My concept of audience and who is reading my status updates changed. Now, virtually I know, that my audience has not changed. No matter where I go geographically, virtually I am in the same place. I can use privacy settings for status updates, and discard some and elect others to read my status updates. However, when I create a status update I always have an audience in mind. Sometimes it is my classmates at IT University of Copenhagen, sometimes its the people I go to church with, sometimes its my friends from Alabama and sometimes its just a mixture of a circle of near friends. My concept of imaginary audience changes. My real audience doesn't.

Who am I and what is this blog about?

My name is Martine and I am a master student at IT University in Copenhagen, Denmark and I study Digital Design and Communication. I am looking at doing a research on concept of audience in the subject Digital Culture and Society, and right now I am looking for people to discuss this concept with me, and later a target group to investigate with further. Would you like to be a target to my research? Write me an email, facebook me or reach me on Twitter.

Who am I again?
I like to travel, especially to the southern states of US, I live in rural Copenhagen with my cat, Cirkeline, I love to blog, I love music and books, to cook especially Indian food, to DJ at private parties, and I work part time as a student assistent doing online marketing on social networking sites for an online marketing consulting firm.

If you would  like to join the discussion, I would be much obliged.

To think about and comment below:

Who are you writing to when you write your status updates? Of your network of friends, how many (a number count) do you consider in your mind as your audience when you write your status update?