Reimagining audiences in the age of datafication

The chapter looks at the history of audience studies in order to reflect on the datafication turn that is exciting both researchers and practitioners worldwide. By distinguishing six stages in audience research, we discuss what we know of audiences and what we have considered important to study about audiences has changed over time. Now that there is an increasing amount of digital data tracking different aspects of audience actions, there is a sense that we know now more than ever before. However, the argument of the following discussion through the historical phases of audience studies is that we know less than we care to admit. Datafication is seldom connected to the ideas of what kind of questions can we ask about audiences and what the data is actually indicative of. What is collected is not always suitable in answering the questions we might have about the audiences, despite our excitement about the opportunities that the data provides in understanding audiences