Blulmer and Katz - Uses and Gratifications Theory (Audience Essay)

Blulmer and Katz
Uses and Gratifications Theory 

The uses and gratifications' model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of media from the point of view of audiences. The model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch television programmes/films/media products in the way in which we do, why we bother to read newspapers for example, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap, or consume films. The theory makes the audience active as they choose what they want to consume, they are not forced into consumption, for example you only watch the films you want as you are in control of your choices. The media simply creates the product.

The theory argued that audience needs have social and psychological needs which generate certain expectations about the mass media and what they are exposed to. As the audience is the active participant it allows them to make choices in relation to what they consume making oneself in control of what they consume. This does assume an active audience making motivated choices making the audience in control of their own consumerism.

The 4 needs:

• The underlying idea behind the model is that people are motivated by a desire to fulfil or gratify certain needs. So rather than asking how the media uses us, the model asks how we use the media. The model is broken down into 4 different needs.

1. Surveillance
2. Personal Identity
3. Personal Relationships
4. Diversion

1. Surveillance

•   The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on around them. For example, we watch the news as we feel that it is a reliable source of information and it makes us feel secure that we know what is happening around us. 
• The surveillance model is all about awareness. We us the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security. 
• When we watch something that reassures the audience and the consumer becomes rather passive and accepting of what they are consuming.
• We use the media to be helpful in our every day activities.
• Social media can influence how this concept works as fake stories are created giving false senses of security.

2. Personal Identity

• Personal identity explains how being a subject of the media allows us to confirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society.
• The use of the media for forming personal identity can be seen in music videos or films. Pop stars can often become big role models, inspiring young children everywhere. 
• Personal identity when consuming a media product allows us to associate and relate to the product directly making us fee gratified in one way or another, making us understand that we share our identities making us feel normal or accepted.
• Different genres allow people to identify in different ways to different elements.

3. Personal Relationships

• This section comes in two parts: relationships with the media and using the media within relationships. 
• We can form relationships within the media, and also use the media to form a relationship with others. 
• Many people use the television as a form of companionship.
• The television is often quite an intimate experience, and by watching the same people on a regular basis we can often feel very close to them, as if we even know them.
• When characters in a soap or film die, those who have watched that person a lot often grieve for their character, as if they have lost a friend.
• Another aspect to the personal relationships model is how we can sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build upon relationships with real people. 
• Having a favourite TV programme in common can often be the start of a conversation, and can even makes talking to strangers much easier. 
• Some studies suggest that some families use sitting around watching the television as a simulus for conversation, talking to each other about the programme. 

4. Diversion

• The diversion need describes what's commonly termed as escapism - watching the television so we can forget about our own lives and problems for a while and think about something else. 
• We watch music videos/films to take our mind off everyday lives, we want to distract ourselves from the problems that we are personally experiencing. We want to see that people experience the same feelings that we do and want to forget about our own problems and focus on someone else's.