USES AND GRATIFICATIONSTHEORY

An active audience theory that focuses on ‘what people do with the media’ rather than what the media does to people, arguing that audiences are free to pick and choose from a wide range of media products to satisfy their own needs

DEFINITION OF ‘USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY’?

4 MAIN GROUPS

Uses and Gratification is normally split into four main groups called; • Diversion, • Personal Relationship• Personal Identity • Surveillance

SURVEILLANCE• The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel

better having the feeling that they know what is going on in the world around them. One of the genres this is often applied to is news as well as magazines. By watching or reading about news or about the world we learn about what is happening, and as the news is usually bad news, this knowledge leaves us feeling more secure about the safety of our own lives. It's not just news that fulfils the surveillance model however, the theory can also be seen in many consumer and crime-appeal programmes such as, Crime Watch. These appeal directly through the idea that they are imparting information that people need to know. The programmes talk far more directly to the viewer, and even try to get the viewer involved in the programme. The surveillance model then is all about awareness. We use the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security.

PERSONAL IDENTITY• The personal identity need explains how being a subject of the

media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society. This can most be seen in soaps, which try to act as a microcosm of society as a whole. The characters in soaps are usually designed to have wildly different characteristics, so that everyone can find someone to represent themselves, someone to aspire to, and someone to despise. Likewise, it can occur in Magazines were readers are aspired to be like a celebrity on the front cover or within the magazine.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP• Many people use the media as a form of companionship. It is

used in the media (on magazines) when we can form a relationship with the media, as well as using the media within relationships.

DEVERSION• The diversion need describes what's commonly termed as

escapism. This can work with positive programmes, such as holiday shows or the constant happy endings in the Australian soap Neighbours, which help to cheer us up and forget our own problems, and with negative programmes, such as the bleak EastEnders or a tragic film, which help to put our own problems into perspective. This also works within music magazines and specific articles.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory outlines the many reasons we have for using the mass media, and the kind of functions that the

media can play within our lives within day to day.