The imagined audience can paralyze users’ participation in social media.

Evidence

Lifestreaming created other anxieties. People worried about their status in the community and whether they were participating appropriately. They fretted over what information should be revealed and what should be concealed. They regretted certain remarks they had made over social media and debated the appropriateness of others. Some even found the concept of an audience paralyzing in itself. Adrian Chan, an intense, cerebral interaction designer, said, “I’m hypersensitive, [I’m] unable to write or post tweets because I’m afraid they’ll sound stupid, or people will read into their possible meaning, read things into it.” While some people enjoyed performing for an audience, the potential public eyes made it hard for Chan to engage at all. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 597

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ‘imagined audience’ concept in media studies and to later work on algorithmic audiences. — connects to: Hyper-individualized attention ironically enslaves people to media rather than freeing them — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1139; Internet fame remains dependent on audience preferences and requires escalating self-disclosure
• SEED: Essay angle on ‘the tyranny of the imagined audience’ — how awareness of potential observers suppresses authentic participation.

Broader Connections

• Hyper-individualized attention ironically enslaves people to media rather than freeing them #expands (0.72) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1139
• Internet fame remains dependent on audience preferences and requires escalating self-disclosure #qualifies (0.70)