Lurking minds
How silent listening shapes understanding in digital spaces
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19218032 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sanna Ala-Kortesmaa (0000-0002-4896-4816, Tampere University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 1196-1215 |
| Publication date | 2026-05-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Media Culture & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-4437 • E-ISSN: 1460-3675 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/01634437261442023 |
| OpenAlex | W7160011487 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
This study investigates how silent listening, the act of consuming digital content without visible interaction, shapes individual understanding in algorithmically mediated environments. Drawing on a qualitative dataset of 21 semi-structured interviews, this study explores how users describe their listening practices, how these shape cognition and emotion, and how they understand the ethical implications of their listening habits. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis to surface recurring interpretive and affective patterns. Three key findings emerge: (1) silent listening is not passive but structured by platform dynamics that render listeners infrastructurally embedded; (2) understanding is shaped through ambient exposure and emotional attunement, leading to gradual, often unrecognized shifts in beliefs; and (3) ethical agency extends to attention, as silent engagement contributes to content visibility in ways users cannot fully control. Framed through cybernetic, sociocultural, and critical traditions of communication theory, the study reconceptualizes silent digital listening as an ethically and structurally meaningful form of participation. It invites reflection on how attention, rather than expression alone, configures digital publics, platform governance, and responsibility
Active listening · Agency (philosophy) · Key (lock) · Reflection (computer programming) · Reflexivity · Thematic analysis · TRACE (psycholinguistics) · Visibility · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Radio, Podcasts, and Digital Media · Social Media and Politics
The Costs of Connection
Why Voice Matters
We Are Data
Republic
If…Then
The Dissonance of Democracy
Algorithms of Oppression
"I always assumed that I wasn't really that close to [her]"
The top five reasons for lurking
Thematic Analysis
Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization
The Spiral of Silence a Theory of Public Opinion
Listening for Democracy
New Dark Age
The psychology of social impact
Algorithmic culture
Communication Theory as a Field
Following you
Decoding algorithms
Stand out of our Light
Content moderation, AI, and the question of scale
It's Not Like It's Life or Death or Whatever
Qualitative Quality
Personalization versus Customization
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |