This document discusses Uses and Gratifications theory, which examines why people use media. The theory argues that people's needs influence how they use and respond to different media. It became apparent in the 1960s that audiences actively consume media for different reasons. Laswell suggested in 1948 that media served entertainment, correlation, surveillance, and cultural transmission functions. Blumer and Katz expanded on this in 1974, stating that people may expose themselves to media for diversion, personal relationships, identity, and surveillance. Uses and gratification theory suggests that media users actively choose and use media to fulfill their own needs and goals.

1. Audience consumption habits
Uses and Gratifications theory:
This theory looks into why people use media.
This is the theory which explains how people use media for their needs and
gratification. This theory explains about what media does to people and not what
people do with the media.
Theorists argue that people’s needs in the media
influence how they use and respond to a medium:
Uses and Gratification can be seen as part of a broader trend amongst media
researcher’s that are more concerned with ‘What people do with the media’, which
allows for a larger variety of interpretations and responses. However, some people
have argued that gratifications could also be seen as effects, for example thrillers
are very likely to get similar interpretations and responses amongst most viewers.

2. The 1960’s
During and in the 1960’s, the first people with television would become grownups.
Here it became apparent to media theorists that people (audiences) made choices
on what they did when watching certain media. The audience was made up of
individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and also in different
ways.
Laswell
In 1948, Laswell suggested that forms of media had these following functions on
individuals and society:
 Entertainment
 Correlation
 Surveillance
 Cultural transmission
Blumer and katz
These researchers expanded this theory and published their own copy in
1974, stating that individuals might choose to expose themselves to certain
media for the following reasons:
 Diversion (escaping from everyday life and problems)
 Personal relationships (using the media for emotional and other interaction)
 Personal identity (finding yourself out and learning behaviour and values
from texts)
 Surveillance (information that could be useful for living)
Their uses and gratification theory suggests that media users play an active
role in choosing and using the media and that users take an active part in
the communication process and are goal orientated in their media use. The
theorist say that a media user seeks out a media source that best fulfils
their needs. Uses and gratification assume that the media users have
alternate choices to satisfy their needs.

3. Since then, the list of uses and gratifications has been extended,
particularly as new media forms have been released (For example, video
games and the internet).