Communications media play a fundamental role in the life of modern technology-based society since it encompasses every area of daily activities. Media exposure accompanies active technology or periodicals’ users throughout their daily schedule, whether in-home settings, work, school, or during grocery shopping. Therefore, any media usage involves a conscious or unconscious, regular, or new choice among the rising outburst of media options. One of the most underlying conceptions within the media audience implies the uses-and-gratifications approach, developed by Elihu Katz in 1959. According to the theory, the audience is a central focus of the “communication media-audience relationship” (Reinhard & Dervin, 2009, p. 507). The uses-and-gratifications approach towards the audience indicates that it has a certain extent of independent control over information received from media outlets, and the way it is used.
The common reasons for media use are based on critical gratifications, including entertainment, integration and social interaction, personal identity, and information. For instance, with a variety of social media platforms, one might use the mobile phone as a source for news information, entertainment activity, or self-encouragement. More specifically, a teenager uses a social network, such as YouTube, to gain a sense of self by watching the video filmed by a famous and well-recognized blogger. By listening to the blogger sharing his views and life, a teenager aims at identifying with valued others as the possible expression of personal identity. A blogger, in turn, represents a personal integrative gratification by promoting his image and reputation for social acceptance. In this case, the media is used to enhance one’s credibility or social standing to assert their sense of self. Hence, the use-and-gratification concept is important because it aims to promote understanding of underlying psychological functions to which the audience adopts when using media and defines reasons behind it.
Reference
Reinhard, C. D., & Dervin, B. (2009). Media uses and gratifications. In W. F. Eadie (Ed.), 21st century communication: A reference handbook (pp. 506–515). SAGE Publications.