In “Following You: Disciplines of Listening in Social Media,” Crawford talks about how people on Twitter interact with one another. Crawford talks about how listening isn’t usually associated with social media, but instead, the voice is associated with social media instead. She talks about her idea of “speaking up” and how it has “become the dominant metaphor for participation in online spaces.”(80) Crawford talks about how there are mainly three types of listeners that use social media. The three groups are individuals, politicians, and corporations. When looking at how social media is used today, we can see how Crawford was right about these groups being the main users of media sites. Crawford talks about how corporations main use of social media platforms is to get a closer bond with the customers. The corporations are listening to the customer’s wants and needs, so they know how to adjust their products accordingly. In the present, we see ads being displayed to us everywhere we go on social media. Politicians are said to use social media to gain access to millions of potential voters information. Crawford also explained how Obama used social media “to send updates about the location and content of speeches and rallies before his election in 2008.”(84) Crawford talks about individuals as people who rarely listen on social media sites, and they are people who like to voice their opinions. The individuals who do not follow this norm and like just to watch are called “lurkers.” Even though the paper was made nine years ago, we can still see as a society how people are still not listening on social media.
