Mass Communication (Media Theories)

My Notes
(Notes I made from lesson and in my spare time on Mass Communication)

Uses and Gratification Theory

Uses and Gratifications Theory (by Blumier and Katz, 1974) is a way of understanding how and why do people seek the media to Satisfy their needs. It is also a way of  understanding the effects of mass-communication through focus on specific groups & audiences.

Attributes of the Theory

-Understanding the Media from the audience's point of view (decoded) rather than the product itself (the source).
-It's an active audience theory, not passive because it suggests that the audience is actively engaged.
-We use the Media to Gratify our needs, we want to feel like we belong somewhere.
-We're very selective of media products. There are thousands out there, we won't choose all and that we'd only choose specific ones.

Uses and Gratifications (deconstructed)

There are certain forms of Uses and Gratifications that are sub-categorised and look at the specific effects and uses of the Theory-Combined, these form the Theory itself.

1. Surveillance 

This is the implication that people will feel better as long as they are aware of what's happening in the world around them. It suggests that we as individuals have a need to feel 'safe' and 'secure' around our environments and as long as we are aware of what's happening in the world, we feel satisfied because the media gives us things to talk about. For example, following up episodes of Doctor Who (a very popular british TV program)- a lot of people in Britain enjoy watching it. So me as an individual who've come all the way from the Caribbean (knowing nothing about the TV program) will go and watch it too because all of my friends are talking about it and how good it is so I watch it too to have something to talk about as well (that sense of acceptance).

2. Personal Identity

This is an aspect of the theory which suggests that the media allows us to form our personalities based on what we consume. As individuals we're very selective, we choose which attributes portrayed by different media personalities that we want to adopt. However, regardless of us having 'free will' to choose we're often influenced by our peers & surroundings; The idea that Society shapes us instead of us shaping Society. It allows us to aspire and look at celebrities/famous people as role models, giving you something to relate to.

3. Personal Relationships with the Media

People use the media as a method of diversion to ignore problems we face in life. Often, we as individuals can feel like scapegoats- lost, confused or hurt and in need of a solution or problem- something to ease the pain. That's why we form relationships with the media such as TV, Radio, Social Media (Facebook/Twitter) - we look for something to relate to and fill that void. Although as individuals we're not entirely depedent on the Media to gratify ourselves. However, in some extreme cases there are actually people out there in the world which their only friend would be the media; that's sad to say but true.

What does all of this link to?

Maslow's Heirachy of needs suggest that as individuals we have needs in order to fulfill 'self.' It comes in the form of a pyramid, starting with the most important needs at the bottom and the least important things at the top. The uses and Gratifications theory links in well with this because all it is about self gratification.

 

 Criticisms of Uses and Gratifications

 -One of the biggest problems of Uses and Gratifications is that it's very limiting, in a sense that viewers of Telivision for example may not know why they chose to watch what they did or explain the reasons fully as to why they did. People may just offer reasons from which others may have mentioned about it. Something more promising would be to study the viewers whilst they were watching the TV program.

-Another problem is that (with viewers having a choice of what media texts & genres to consume) we may over-emphasize our chosen media forms & genres for our pre-determined use.

-We are often made to think that the media will always be there for us and that it satisfies us BUT how can that be true when we have no control over what we see. The media often has these one-sided opinions about certain things and can be very biased because they have the power and we can sometimes be helpless to this as individuals.  

Two Step Flow 

The two step flow of communication suggests that people form opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, people who decode & interpret media texts. It's said that we are more likely to purchase a product if it has been recommended to us by someone (opinion leader). One of the key things that makes it effective is that it allows for socialization and interaction- you're more likely to believe the writer of an article (if he/she is talking in person to you) than simply reading the article itself.

My Media Product 'Strangers Amongst Us' (Film/Film Trailer)

Looking at the uses and gratifications theory & two step flow, in relation to my media product. It's fair to say the audience which it will get most attention from will be Sci-Fi fans. Especially enthusiasts because it will allow them to relate to it by giving them something to talk about, 'A new upcoming film' that's always interesting to talk about and since it's a film trailer, only certain bits of the actual movie is shown.

We know the point of a film trailer is to convince people to go watch the film and because a trailer is nothing more than a compilation of innuendos, viewers (especially Sci-Fi fans) can only have pre-conceived ideas, they're not entirely sure what the film is about. This will allow them to share their thoughts about my film trailer like for example there is a scene at the end of the trailer where 'Julie' is seen walking through a forest, lost and looking for her friends (Joe and Steve) and then an object which appears to be a hand just reaches out and grabs her and then everything goes black.

This leaves them puzzled and perplexed, wondering what may have happened to her- she could have been captured by one of the alien creatures, restrained by one of her friends or a military personnel. This is where the surveillance aspect of the Uses & Gratifications theory comes in- this cliffhanger serves as a good debate for Sci-Fi fans; Filled with anxiety, they can only anticipate and make presumptions (decode/interpret) of what may happened to her in the film.

Interestingly enough, these same group of people (Sci-Fi fans & analysts) become opinion leaders and they share their views on the film to other people. This can be done in several ways, but the most influential and powerful of all ways would be through social media.

My film trailer is uploaded on YouTube and since it's horizontally integrated with Facebook, these opinion leaders can share my video straight from YouTube, onto their Facebook wall. 9 times out of 10 it is guarunteed that they will write something about the trailer and give their thoughts, even though it may be in the form of a short quote.  

Me as the Producer will find it quite amusing to see the response it will get from the viewers because I'm the one who encoded the video and put it all together- I know what's going to happen to Julie, they don't. You can argue that the hypodermic needle theory isn't really effective, because even though I may have had my own intentions when making the trailer, to the audience, they may interpret the text in their own way and not really get the point that I intended to get across.