The Passive Listening Revolution and the Working Class
Most of my time working, I’m outside and on my own. The work I do is not cognitively demanding, so I am free to put a headphone in and listen to anything I like while going about my business. I take full advantage of this. In the early days I would divide my listening time between borrowed books on CD from my local library, and disappearing into the many quality shows previously found on CBC radio.
Not surprisingly, I was an early adopter of podcasts and apps such as Audible. I know I’m not alone. Much has been said about this digital revolution and the rise of passive listening. The amount of information presently available to the general public, on a minute by minute basis, is incomparable to the past.
Previously, to keep up with the news, all one had to do was to read the paper in the morning and watch the six o’clock news in the evening. This formula doesn’t work anymore, as outlets have become more partisan, content has swelled by magnitudes, and audiences have demanded longer form content. Today, one can dive deep into a bevy of issues and find almost endless information pertaining to the subject at hand, and many people are.
Due to the passive listening ability of these mediums, many of the people participating in this new audio revolution are people who can listen while they work. Tradespeople, drivers, labourers, landscapers, and other similar working class or blue collar jobs. To go deeper into an issue used to require considerable effort. At the least, one would have to seek out and find a suitable book or other such publication. Perhaps an expert on the subject could be found close by or by telephone. Maybe taking a course or two could help educate oneself.
With the advent of the Internet, this is no longer the case. Curious minds can be satisfied in one click of the mouse. The results of this appear to be a more engaged citizenry than we’ve previously seen. Or at least the people who are choosing to get engaged, are really engaged.
For anyone who has worked blue collar/working class jobs, they know it is not surprising to discover intelligent, curious, and capable people throughout this demographic. Most likely, there is untold potential awaiting us in these masses, and current technology may allow us to start harnessing some of that previously untapped talent and putting it to good use for the benefit of all.
It’s time to recognize things have changed and there are now many paths to knowledge that was once difficult to obtain. We should not be so dismissive of the working class. Hopefully in time we can erase many of the harmful stereotypes around this demographic and replace them with more accurate and helpful representations.
