In her piece “Following You: Disciplines of Listening in Social Media”, Kate Crawford sheds light on the roles listening and speaking play in our use of social media. Social media is a constant in nearly every person’s life, and Crawford uses categories of individuals, politicians, and corporations to examine how listening and developing a social media presence changes; as well as three types of listening: reciprocal, background, and delegated. She mentions that even if we do not have a “voice” on social media, we still affect what others say and produce through our interactions on the media platforms. I do not see myself as someone with an active voice on social media and am more of a listener or “lurker” as Crawford might say. I simply observe other people’s posts as a form of entertainment and source of information. The thought of listening does not seem like it would be prevalent in social media, but this piece made me realize that everything I see on social media is something I am “listening” to. I am still taking in others’ thoughts and ideas, just through a different mode. Social media also allows me, and the rest of the world, to listen to more people than one ever could without it. Although this discussion was written in 2009, I feel that the ideas Kate Crawford touches on are even more prevalent today. Social media is only growing and will most likely continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This means that content makers will have a greater voice than ever, and it is our job as social media users to listen. I never thought of listening as having a role in my social media use, but I will now be much more aware of it in the future.
