Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratifications theory describes the effects of the media from the point of view of the audience. It looks at the motives of people who use media. It focuses on:

• Why do people watch television programmes, films or read the paper. 
• Why we feel compelled to keep up to date with certain soaps or the films we choose to watch.

The audience chooses what they consume. They are not forced by the media to view certain things. The media simply creates a product then the audience will make the decision on whether to consume the particular product.

This theory argues that the audience have social and psychological needs which generate certain expectations about the mass media and what they are exposed to.
- The audience is the active participant so it allows them to make choices in what they consume. Which therefore makes the audience in control of their own consumption.

People are motivated by a desire to fulfill or gratify certain needs.
This theory suggests there are four needs of an audience:

• Surveillance
• Personal Identity 
• Personal Relationships
• Diversion 

Surveillance: 
- People feel better having the feeling they know what is going on in the world around them.
- The surveillance model is about awareness. We use the mass media to be more aware of the world, therefore gratifying a desire for knowledge and security.

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 identities can be seen in music video/films. For example: pop stars become role models which inspires young people.
- Meghan Trainor with "All about that bass" and Christina Aguilera with "You are beautiful" help us 'fit' into society and make us feel better about the way we feel about ourselves.

Personal Relationships: 
There are two types of personal relationships:

• Relationships within the media
• Using the media within relationships

Relationships within the media: 
-We can form a relationship with the media and use the media to form a relationship with others.
-Many people will use the television as a form of companionship. Television is often an intimate experience. We can often feel close to a favourite character. If this character or a different character dies on a programme the audience may grieve like it was a real friend.
Using the media within relationships:
-We sometimes use the media as a springboard to form and build a relationship with real people.
- Having a favourite TV programme in common can often start a conversation. It can also make talking to strangers easier.
- Studies suggest some families use sitting around watching television as a stimulus for conversation, for example 'Gogglebox'.

Diversion:
This is commonly termed as 'Escapism'
-Escapism means, Watching TV so we can forget about our own lives and problems for a while and think about something else.
- We will watch music videos to take our mind off our everyday lives, we want to distract ourselves from the problems we are experiencing. For example:

• Leona Lewis "Happy" We might watch this if we feel like being sad.
• Beyonce "Best thing you never had" We would watch this to lift our spirits and make oursleves feel better.