Uses & Gratifications

Ryan S

oanes

What’s it about

The main idea of this theory is what people can do for media instead of what media does to people.

It assumes that the audiences are not passive (like in the hypodermic needle theory) but have an active role in media and take everything in, in there own way.

People choose what media they want to watch and how it affects them.

1948 - Lasswell

Media texts have certain functions;

Surveillance

Correlation

Entertainment

Cultural Transmission

Bulmer and Katz - 1974

Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine

Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction

Personal Identity - finding yourself in media and learning behavior and values from texts

Surveillance - Find information that is useful to living such as weather, news and big events.

Criticism

A lot of people have criticized this theory because they believe the pub doesn’t have as much control as this theory says that they do and it is still the big media cooperation's that control the majority of the media.

We do have more control such as Sky it gives us control over what we each but it is limited because for example programs aimed at housewives will be played in the day