Week 11 Blogging

Uses & Gratifications Theory

The uses & gratifications theory is one of the most interesting thories, in my opinion, found in this book.

The definition of Uses and Gratifications Theory, according to the text book, is:

"The belief that people have the power to pick and choose the mass media channels that, in turn, influence their actions."

According to this theory, basically, the public will seek out a media source that best fulfils their needs.

This is very interesting to me and I find it to be very true becuase of the massive amount of media outlets that we have to chose from. We walk around everyday and are bombarded by numerous sources of media: broadcast radio, satelite radio, newspapers, magazines, cable tv, satelite tv, internet, etc.. And to top it all off we're always connected. We can even recieve news on our cell phones.

All of that connection and media allows us, as consumers and members of the general public, to chose what best suits our needs. I am more apt to get my news from sources like radio and the internet than my grandmother, who might get her news from the newspaper and cable television.

It all varies based on demographics. We're not all programmed the same way. Therefore, trying to fit us all into one category, which previous theories of mass communication did, we are now thought of as more individualistic. And that's definately a step in the right direction.

Brandon Brooks