Introduction
Messages invite particular people to recognize themselves, believe, feel, and act.
Artifacts are shaped by imagined and actual audiences. Creators make assumptions about what viewers know, value, fear, desire, and consider believable. These assumptions influence language, tone, imagery, references, and distribution.
Audiences are not passive. People interpret messages through identity, experience, culture, knowledge, and community. The same artifact may inspire trust, rejection, humor, confusion, or resistance among different groups.
Audience analysis asks both who was targeted and who actually encountered the message. It also examines who is excluded, stereotyped, ignored, or expected to adapt.