Connected Audiences in Social Performance

• In Event: 3267 - Section on Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 5. Presentations of the Self and Audiences

Abstract

While previous accounts of social performance examine the difficulties associated with multiple audiences, few describe situations in which a performer’s audiences are not only multiple, but also connected in ways that mean that the reaction of one audience will influence that of the other. I lay out the necessary conditions for audiences to be considered connected, the potential configurations of connected audiences, and the challenges for performative success that come with such configurations. I argue that some performance structures are increasingly central to civil engagement as groups become less likely to interact but more likely to virtually observe one another. As an illustrative example, I examine campus conservative groups’ performances in hosting controversial speakers. I argue that while their actions are ostensibly targeted at sympathetic audiences, the success of the performance is contingent on a second openly unsympathetic audience engaging with the performance and visibly rejecting its tenets.

Author

• Timothy Malacarne, Mount Holyoke College