The uses and gratifications media theory emphasizes the active role of consumers in selecting media to fulfill their individual needs, contrasting with theories that focus on media's effects on audiences. It outlines four key satisfaction types: identification, education, entertainment, and social interaction, while highlighting the internet's role in enhancing these experiences through access to various platforms. Despite criticisms about its perceived leniency towards media influence, the theory remains relevant in modern society, where audiences have greater control over their media consumption.

1. Uses and Gratifications
Media Theory

2. What is the uses and gratifications
media theory?
Uses and gratifications places emphasis on the consumer of a product rather than the
message it gives. The theory asks questions such as ‘what do people do with media?’ rather
than ‘what does media do to people’, as some other theories may ask.
The theory suggests that audiences and consumers take an active role in interpreting and
integrating media in their own lives by using it daily. This also means that the theory places
emphasis on a consumer choosing a form of media to fit their own needs. This suggests that
the approach explains that media is chosen based on an audience’s own specific uses and
gratifications, meaning that other forms of media then must compete in order to receive that
particular consumer’s gratification.

3. What is the basic model of the uses
and gratifications theory?
It is suggested that when we choose a form of media, the uses and gratifications theory has
to fulfil one of the following specifications:
 Identify – an audience being able to recognise the character, role model or product that
they are presented with due to the fact that they experience similar issues, values or
aspirations.
 Education – the form of media must provide some sort of knowledge or information for
the audience to learn from.
 Entertainment – an audience my be able to find some sort of enjoyment in the media
that they are experiencing. This par of the theory also incorporates ‘escapism’, meaning
that the audience can use what they are watching as a way to escape the hassles of
their everyday life and their worries temporarily.
 Social interaction – this refers to the form of media being able to produce a topic of
conversation for the audience. For example, reality TV shows may use this approach in
order to spread word and gather larger audiences in the process, using it as an
advertising mechanism.

4. This theory applied to the internet
In recent years, the internet has played a large part in the way that the Uses and
Gratifications theory is perceived and used.
 The internet allows us to identify more products and people due to methods such as
advertisement. Search engines such as Google and Bing mean that we are able to
search anything that we may want, enabling audiences to become closer to role models
and characters that they may otherwise only experience through television, magazines
or radio.
 Information search engines such as Wikipedia allow education to be accessible at any
point we may want it.
 Social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram allow people to keep in
touch and socialise whenever they want. Not only this, but video platforms such as
YouTube, 4OD and Netflix allow audiences to be entertained.
 Using the internet allows us to escape at the touch of a button. Disappearing and
engaging themselves in a virtual world means that audiences can easily forget about the
worries and hassles of daily life temporarily.

5. The uses and gratifications theory can be seen clearly, for example, in music selection.
Audiences choose the music they want to listen to based on factors such as mood, and also
as a way to show their social side, whilst putting across an aspect of empowerment amongst
peers. This can then relate to aspects such as music videos as it provides a topic of
conversation that may not otherwise have been there.
Most audiences use the internet as an access point to music videos that they wish to listen to.
YouTube is the main search engine for things such as music videos, however quite often artists
may incorporate them onto their website as well.

6. Criticism of this theory
The uses and gratifications theory has often been criticised as some people believe that the
general public have no control over the media and the products produced within it. The
theory can also be said to be ‘too kind’ to media, letting them off the hook when mistakes
are made due to the fact that it then seems to be the responsibility of the consumer. The
theory also takes out the possibility that the media have an unconscious control over the
general public’s lives as it influences the way they see the world and how they may interpret
certain things. The idea that audiences simply use media to satisfy a certain void does not
take into account the power that certain media platforms have in today’s modern society.
However, the theory may be more relevant in modern societies due to the fact that internet
and satellite TV such as SKY and Virgin allow audiences to have much more control about
the parts of the media that they experience. They are not being forced into watching or
obtaining information or influences from any certain parts of the media specifically.