Audience Entanglement: How Independent Creative Workers Experience the Pressures of Widespread Appeal on Digital Platforms.
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| Title: | Audience Entanglement: How Independent Creative Workers Experience the Pressures of Widespread Appeal on Digital Platforms. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Pillemer, Julianna1 (AUTHOR) jpilleme@stern.nyu.edu, Harrison, Spencer2 (AUTHOR), Murphy, Chad3 (AUTHOR), Park, Yejin1 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Administrative Science Quarterly. Mar2026, Vol. 71 Issue 1, p215-260. 46p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Audiences, *Creative ability, Online social networks, Digital media & society, Job stress, Organizational behavior |
| Abstract: | Creative workers often seek a substantial audience for their work. Our findings reveal that a new struggle begins once they attain one. Existing theory fails to account for how creators conceive of and manage the relationship with their audience once their work has gained widespread appeal. In an inductive study of independent creative workers who use digital platforms to share their work, we discovered that after attaining a substantial audience, creators experience audience entanglement: a subjective sense of deep interrelatedness between an individual and the audience for their work such that this relationship becomes a persistent consideration in their approach to creating. This entanglement typically begins as dysfunctional entanglement, characterized by feeling an oppressive dependence on audience reactions, struggling with platform volatility, and experiencing distressing emotions. In this state, creators question the meaning of their work and view platform work as unsustainable. Some creators develop entanglement management strategies —distancing themselves from audience input, depersonalizing audience critiques, and distilling their personal standards—that shift them to a state of functional entanglement, or feeling a balanced dependence on audience reactions, accepting platform volatility, and experiencing uplifting emotions. Functional entanglement allows creators to capture meaning from their audience and to view platform work as sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 191254655 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Audience Entanglement: How Independent Creative Workers Experience the Pressures of Widespread Appeal on Digital Platforms. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Pillemer%2C+Julianna%22">Pillemer, Julianna</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> jpilleme@stern.nyu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Harrison%2C+Spencer%22">Harrison, Spencer</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Murphy%2C+Chad%22">Murphy, Chad</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Park%2C+Yejin%22">Park, Yejin</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Administrative+Science+Quarterly%22">Administrative Science Quarterly</searchLink>. Mar2026, Vol. 71 Issue 1, p215-260. 46p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Audiences%22">Audiences</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creative+ability%22">Creative ability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Online+social+networks%22">Online social networks</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Digital+media+%26+society%22">Digital media & society</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+stress%22">Job stress</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Organizational+behavior%22">Organizational behavior</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Creative workers often seek a substantial audience for their work. Our findings reveal that a new struggle begins once they attain one. Existing theory fails to account for how creators conceive of and manage the relationship with their audience once their work has gained widespread appeal. In an inductive study of independent creative workers who use digital platforms to share their work, we discovered that after attaining a substantial audience, creators experience audience entanglement: a subjective sense of deep interrelatedness between an individual and the audience for their work such that this relationship becomes a persistent consideration in their approach to creating. This entanglement typically begins as dysfunctional entanglement, characterized by feeling an oppressive dependence on audience reactions, struggling with platform volatility, and experiencing distressing emotions. In this state, creators question the meaning of their work and view platform work as unsustainable. Some creators develop entanglement management strategies —distancing themselves from audience input, depersonalizing audience critiques, and distilling their personal standards—that shift them to a state of functional entanglement, or feeling a balanced dependence on audience reactions, accepting platform volatility, and experiencing uplifting emotions. Functional entanglement allows creators to capture meaning from their audience and to view platform work as sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Administrative Science Quarterly is the property of Administrative Science Quarterly and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=191254655 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1177/00018392251399652 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 46 StartPage: 215 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Audiences Type: general – SubjectFull: Creative ability Type: general – SubjectFull: Online social networks Type: general – SubjectFull: Digital media & society Type: general – SubjectFull: Job stress Type: general – SubjectFull: Organizational behavior Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Audience Entanglement: How Independent Creative Workers Experience the Pressures of Widespread Appeal on Digital Platforms. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Pillemer, Julianna – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Harrison, Spencer – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Murphy, Chad – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Park, Yejin IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 03 Text: Mar2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00018392 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 71 – Type: issue Value: 1 Titles: – TitleFull: Administrative Science Quarterly Type: main |
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