Situation Blending

David thinks people have gotten more relaxed since Carapace stopped being recorded:

as soon as Carapace stopped recording

I really felt

like people knew this wasn’t going to get out there.

People weren’t going to be able to Google-search their name

and find video of them telling this story.

And I feel that really

helps people

tell stories.

Meyrowitz calls this “situation blending.” When recording is going on, storytellers have to perform both for the live audience at Carapace, and for the imagined audience that may hear the audio or watch the video later. This is inevitably going to lead to a different type of performance. Also, the question of who is in the audience is incredibly important at a show where the safety and comfort of the storyteller is so protected. You can see the people who show up live. You can have some sense that they understand what Carapace is about and agree to behave appropriately. You know a lot less about the imagined TV or Internet audience. Also, storytellers get some immediate feedback from the live audience in their facial expressions, gestures, and occasional exclamations. “Audience” members who experience the story through a recording can not participate in this conversation the same way. They might be able to contact the storyteller later to give feedback, but it won’t effect the live performance of the story like the feedback the storyteller got during the performance.

Meyrowitz, J. (1985). No sense of place: The impact of electronic media on social behavior. New York: Oxford University Press.