Uses And Gratification Theory

With the advent of information technology, the ways different aspects of life work and operate have changed a great deal. Media has always had a great influence in molding the culture of a society. There was a point of time when television and radio were invented and when computer was invented and there was little connection between the two. Time then travelled fast then through the age of cassettes, records, VCDs, DVDs, flash drive and then the internet. Media also started to go satellite on a massive scale and there came a point of time when media and digital communication systems became closely integrated with one another, opening the dimensions to digital media.

Jenkins talks about how the consumption of media products is a collective process, in other words, the collective intelligence is seen as an alternative source of media power. He describes how within popular culture, the collective meaning making is shaping and changing the ways religion, education, laws, politics, advertising and how the military operate (4). Jenkins discusses a process called “convergence of modes”, he explains that media and communication are becoming interconnected like the telephone and television.

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time span of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea's and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

In the experiment group, children were asked to postpone their desire to eat marshmallow for ten minutes, but they were notified how much time left to hold their

Utilizing the new sensation of technological media, with its instant projection to a broader audience base, can be both advantageous and unfavorable. As media is frequently updating

lex Lickerman, author of the article “The Power of Delaying Gratification”, discuss the experiment psychologist Walter Mischel did on the kids to understand their self-control. Basically, he gives a group of children a cookie and gives them to option either they could eat the cookie immediately or they can wait until he comes back, however, if they wait for him to back they will receive another cookie. Based on his experiment he concludes that the kid who resist to eat a cookie and wait for him to gain another cookie they will do better in the school than the kids who did not resist. For instances, they will get higher sat scores than who eat the cookie immediately. Likewise, I attempt to do the same experiment instead of using cookie I use candy because teenager loves candy, therefore it will be difficult for them to refuse candy. So, I did experiment on students who are in regular classes and they are in different grades. Based on the results, I realize that only freshman and sophomore find it difficult to candy but seniors are also found difficult to resist the candy. This interacts with Walter ideology because I did experiment students who are in regular class and Walton states that kids who resist eating candy straightway will do better in the school. Therefore, the students find difficult to resist the candy so they are in regular class instead of honors class.

The author Portia Vann (2014) talks about how social media lacks in coverage and attention by the mainstream media in Australia? And what they can do as a community to improve the showing of professional women’s sports? Vann (2014) is studying how social media is so involved in everything in today’s world, but lacked in broadcasting women’s sports back in 2011 through 2013. So in the article Vann (2014) used the ANZ netball Championship that is held in Australia as an example (netball is similar just like basketball and primarily played by women). The communication theory that Vann (2014) uses is Gratification theory, because he is trying to seek why people do not follow all women’s sports in Australia.

Darrin Brown, Sharon Lauricella, Aziz Douai and Arshia Zaidi composed a study focusing on the uses and grats of the aforementioned genre as a means of better understanding the relationship between television and its audiences (Brown, Lauricella, Douai, Zaidi, 2000). Blumber and Katz’s theory on uses and gratifications suggest that audience’s choose to watch certain programs as it satisfies a particular need; in other words, people use a program to gratify or please themselves (Who Watches Crime Dramas and Why?, 2012). They identified four main uses and grats: entertainment and diversion, where there is an idea of escapism; surveillance and information, where people have an urge to become more knowledgeable in a particular area; personal identity, where there is a comparison between the characters and audience members; and finally, personal companionship, where audience’s become involved with characters as if they were real (Who Watches Crime Dramas and Why?, 2012). The uses and Gratification theory assumes that audiences use mass media as an outlet for satisfying certain needs and desires (Brown, et. al, 2000). According to another group of scholars, the gratification individuals get when using such media are both social and psychological in nature (Brown, et. al, 2000). In

At the beginning of the semester, one of the first topics discussed in this class was ‘Media to me is ______.’ Upon being asked this question, I had two answers to fill in these blanks. One of these answers was ‘a way for me to learn about the world’ and the other was ‘a form of entertainment.’ After taking this course, I have formulated some new, more complex ideas on how to fill in these blanks.

In Kellner and Share’s scholarly journal, the authors argue that media helps present ideas and beliefs through technological advancements in the media. However, the authors believe in the process of “saturation” (Kellner and Share 2007) which is when people become dependent on the media and are only focused on the information being sent to them. When people are constantly absorbing media, they are only learning what the media

From the five uses and gratifications, stability would be the most important in my life because being stable helps you build a great foundation for your life. Next, information would be the second most important need to know information in order to converse with people. The reason why I say that is because the more information you know the easier it is to be social. Then, credibility is something I think would be important because you need creditable and reliable sources for people to believe and trust what you are saying. If information or sources are not credible, people will not really trust you and your word or you might not trust in others. For instance, my best friend’s lawyer called me and was asking me questions about where he’s

The uses and gratification theory seeks to understand the uses of which people seek media to fulfill certain gratifications (Baran and Doris, 2006) by identifying how people utilize the media to gratify their needs and desire.

Mass media plays an important role in the society by providing entertainment, information and acting as the government’s overseer. Several scholars have developed philosophies that help people understand how mass media fulfills its roles in the society. For example, Horkheimer and Adorno have constructed theories that explain the functions and impacts of mass media in the society across the globe (Mosco, 2008). The central theme in all mass communication models entails the meaning of media contents, which include the images and texts and their influence on the target audience. The perception of the target audience concerning the text and images in the media are what form the basis of these theories. This essay discusses two hypothetical frameworks: the political economy and cultural studies theories, including their similarities and differences, and how they help in understanding the relationship between the media and society.

Media influence is the force by which ideas are injected into people’s lives shaping the very culture of society. This influence is masqueraded through hidden media message, resulting in a change in its audience which can be positive or negative, abrupt or gradual, short term or long term. Although mass media’s influential effect can reach a wide ranged audience as an agent of socialization the responsibility to contain what it releases has not been of importance. “The media’s socially significant obligations are formally ignored.” (A.S. Zapesotskii, 2011, p 9). Media messages can be exerted through many different outlets such as TV shows, music, movies, commercials, news, magazines, games which are all gravitated to entertain audiences ultimately offering personal gratification that can sometimes blur the lines between reality and

The worth of media is a very controversial topic. Media has given us the ability to do things in new and creative ways such as how we learn and accomplish our everyday tasks. However, we do not always know how to interpurate this information. The technology available today is constantly impacting and influencing society in tremendous ways. Many of the impacts that are accocated with media are addressed in negative ways, but can be seen from a positive perspective as well. In the current generation, media and its influences can be found everywhere. These influences widely impact today’s adolescents and maturing teenagers because they are still developing into adults. Medias purpose is not only to inform us, but to allow us to mold ourselves in how we want to be perceived online. Also, it allows us easy access to unbelievable amounts of information. Living in an era known as the “information age” is riveting, but what are we suppose to do with all of this new technology and information?