Hiba Abou Chabké
Comm 210
Summary
The uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understand why people seek out specific media and how they use said media to satisfy specific needs. It is an audience- centered approach to understanding mass communication and it focuses on answering, “What do people do with media?” rather than answering the typical, “What does media do to people?” It is the idea that the mass audiences make active use of what the media offers.
The most important concept in this theory is that it is based in the socio-psychological communication tradition, and it focuses on communication at the mass media scale. The uses and gratifications theory seeks to understand why people look for certain media outlets and what they use those media outlets for. It differs from other theories that study the effect of media in that it is pretty much saying that instead of people and individuals being passive consumers of media, it is assumed that they themselves have power over their media usages. It also explores how individuals deliberately seek out media to fulfill certain needs or goals such as entertainment, relaxation, or socialization.
Throughout the years, the strengths and weaknesses of the uses and gratifications theory have been made more concrete as the theory …show more content…
Because YouTubers use YouTube to give themselves a name, to connect to people via vlogs (video blogs), skits, makeup tutorial videos, life hacks videos, etc., I feel like it would make the most perfect example to discuss when relating it to the uses and gratifications theory. Along with the YouTubers, the audience/viewers play a big part in the uses and gratifications theory because we are also answering what people do with media by viewing the audience’s consumption of
Comm 210
Summary
The uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understand why people seek out specific media and how they use said media to satisfy specific needs. It is an audience- centered approach to understanding mass communication and it focuses on answering, “What do people do with media?” rather than answering the typical, “What does media do to people?” It is the idea that the mass audiences make active use of what the media offers.
The most important concept in this theory is that it is based in the socio-psychological communication tradition, and it focuses on communication at the mass media scale. The uses and gratifications theory seeks to understand why people look for certain media outlets and what they use those media outlets for. It differs from other theories that study the effect of media in that it is pretty much saying that instead of people and individuals being passive consumers of media, it is assumed that they themselves have power over their media usages. It also explores how individuals deliberately seek out media to fulfill certain needs or goals such as entertainment, relaxation, or socialization.
Throughout the years, the strengths and weaknesses of the uses and gratifications theory have been made more concrete as the theory …show more content…
Because YouTubers use YouTube to give themselves a name, to connect to people via vlogs (video blogs), skits, makeup tutorial videos, life hacks videos, etc., I feel like it would make the most perfect example to discuss when relating it to the uses and gratifications theory. Along with the YouTubers, the audience/viewers play a big part in the uses and gratifications theory because we are also answering what people do with media by viewing the audience’s consumption of