Considering the Comments: Theorizing Online Audiences as Emergent Processes

Prompted by an in-depth case study of a web-writer, this article argues that audience may be understood as an emergent process for web-writers who consider their comments. Rather than a group of people or demographic that is prefigured to exist, this article posits that audience might be a concept used throughout the composing process, including production and distribution processes. Such an approach is useful for digital pedagogies that involve...