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TECH 114 – Lab 2
Connie Lee (301112513)
Jessica Cheng (301104451)
Yen Lin (301123901)
Lulu Huang (301120497)
Invisible Audiences in the Food Court
An example that explains the physical space of the invisible audiences can be found in the food court. A food court is a large area where people can enjoy their meals after purchasing them in the nearby store. While people are busy doing things and minding their own businesses, they might not realize or be aware that they are being observed, and the people observing them become the invisible audience. Some people actually enjoy watching others in busy environments like train and bus stations, parks, etc. They find observing various types of people in a single setting interesting. These watchers become the invisible audience.
In a way, this physical setting can be similar to observing a forum, or a chatroom, where you can hear or read other people’s conversations, as a food court is typically loud and informal. A person overhears two people talking at a nearby table while having lunch and eavesdrops on their conversation. The person listening can be the “invisible audience”; the pair conversing may not know that someone is listening to their discussion.
A mediated public as food court is similar to these inadvertent public blogs online, where bloggers don’t expect strangers to paying attention to. Usually for these blogs, there are no huge audience who read the blogs regularly. The readers are usually invited guests instead of strangers. However, since the blog is open in public, there might be some unexpected readers that read the posts regularly without leaving comments to the author. This can also be an invisible audience online.
Some network platforms, as Facebook, Twitter or BBS are similar to the food court. They are both places that people can not only chat on, but also can see others chatting. They are both mass media that are open to everyone. In Facebook, when two people are chatting on it, then other people who are just on that webpage would see their words. These people would be the “invisible audience”. If they don’t leave a message on that webpage, nobody knows they have come.
PS: I posted this up at 11:35pm March 18, 2010. But the blog upload time is off.
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