Crawford uses the ideas of sound, listening, and speaking to define modern human interaction and how these interactions occur over social media. The article is primarily focused on listening however and she acknowledges that social media listening/speaking is complicated and can be both a way to increase and decrease focus. She chooses to use twitter as her social media of choice within the article and nearly 10 years later twitter is remains relevant enough to see if Crawford’s claims are still accurate. “Listening is not a common metaphor for online activity,”(Crawford 80) is a statement that very much applies today and the idea of “speaking up”, or “having a voice” are still regarded as the, “Dominant metaphor{s}for participation in online spaces”(Crawford 80). From my personal experience as a social media user I would agree that the three categories of “listeners” that Kate Crawford mentions still exists today as well as her three modes of listening. For example the practice of “background listening” is prevalent to this day. Taking a break from doing something to briefly tune in to social media before returning to a main task is extremely common and some people become background listeners simply as a way to pass time when waiting for something. Corporations continue, “Using social media to forge a closer relationship with customers, gain information about products, and enhance public personae”(Crawford 85). Politicians are also seen to use this reciprocal form of listening but delegated listening is still present as well. Finally, as Crawford states, “Social networks could be considered as configurations that push our attention and distraction to new limits”(Crawford 87). For example social media arguments between very popular celebrities can be a distraction and prevent people from learning about current events. However at the same time, social media has the ability to bring mass exposure to issues that otherwise would have gone relatively unnoticed.
