I do not actively write
every day, except possibly assignments for classes, in which case there is
usually an audience of one. Rarely am I keen to participate in social media
sites, usually for fear of expressing an “incorrect” opinion or of joining a never-ending
debate about one issue or another. Spreadability for me occurs on a small
scale. If I find an article or meme I like, I will share it privately with
friends through messenger. I know my friends’ preferences and what they will
find funny, so I know what kind of reaction I will garner. Barring my
participation in social media posting, I would say I am a consumer of
spreadability. I frequently check Facebook or my favorite accounts on Twitter for
the shows I watch to get as much information as I possibly can.
Even when I do write, I
cannot say I actively worry about audience or how my writing will be spread. Certainly
it is a concern, because most if not at all writers want their work read as
widely as possible. I am more involved with the content of my writing and the
ideas I have. I do not want to write exclusively about what the current “in”
genre is, but I know I cannot isolate myself by ignoring what people want to
read. A portion of writing is dedicated to catering to audience demands. In
fiction, the recent trend was dystopias. People consumed them in a vengeance,
and as a result authors happily wrote them more. As all popular genres do, the
dystopia and other end-of-the-world books are now being categorized as cliché.
Spreadability reminds me
of our most recent project in WEPO. It was not possible to examine a single
term without recognizing its connections to other concepts. For example, my project
focused on circulation but due consideration had to be given to audience and
technology. Spreadability works the same way. Writers have to consider their
audience and content to spread their writing to more people. I think this could
be an unconscientious decision. My writer friends do not talk to me about
spreadability in that term. Instead they will discuss what has the greatest
appeal.
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