Name: Uses and Gratification Theory: Concepts, History and Social Media Example
Uploaded: 2021-06-21T00:17:43.000Z
Duration: 6 min 31 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

Answer me this question: why are you  watching this video now? And why are  

you using all the media like...all the  time? Let's find out, with people also ask.

Hi, I am Shao, Welcome to what  people also ask, where I search  

and share with you some of its PAAs, aka People Also Ask,  

which is a feature telling you what people are  searching on Google that relates to your query.

Today's keyword is Use and Gratification  Theory. We will talk about what is Use and  

Gratification Theory, when did it started, and  some examples of UGT in PR and Social Media.

So the first PAA is What is uses and gratification theory?

The answer is extracted from an article  titled "Uses and Gratifications Theory"  

published by Businesstopia, which is a  website about business and communication.

This article explained that uses and gratification  theory is an opposing theory to the magic bullet  

theory aka hypodermic needle model because UGT assumes that the public is active,  

while the magic bullet theory assumes  that the audience is passive and helpless.

According to UGT, the audience is said  to have full control over the effect of  

media on them as the media can be  chosen by the audience themselves,  

and there are five basic areas of human  gratifications. They are as follows:

Affective needs refer to the emotional  satisfaction and pleasure people  

derive from using media. People  identify with the characters in  

the media and empathize with  the emotions they display.

People use media to get information and fulfill their mental and intellectual needs. Like People  

utilize both analog and digital media to learn  about news and keep up with current events.  

They also use the media like online courses to learn a variety of subjects.

Social integrative need is a person's  need to interact with others,  

such as family and friends. People utilize  social networking sites like Facebook,  

MySpace, and Twitter to mingle and interact with  others. People also use media to improve their  

social relationships by searching subjects  to discuss with their friends and family.

Believe it or not, media consumption help  humans in the formation and consolidation of  

their identity. Like you might watch advertising  and learn about current trends in order to adapt  

your lifestyle and blend in with others. During  media consumption, we also tend to see characters  

with characteristics that appeal to us as role  models, and we begin to emulate their actions.

People may have many tensions in  their lives they do not want to face,  

As a person who lives in modern society, you might  think this theory is just stating the obvious,  

but you know what, back to 1940s it was Not  that obvious. Let's talk about our next PAA:

When did the Uses and gratification theory start?

The answer is extracted from  an article titled "What Is Uses  

and Gratifications Theory? Definition  and Examples" published by ThoughtCo,  

which is a website providing information  about science, math, and humanities.

According to this article, Uses and gratifications  was first introduced in the 1940s as researchers  

looked into why people choose to  consume different types of media.  

Then, in the 1970s, researchers turned  their attention to the outcomes of media  

use and the social and psychological needs  that media gratified. Today, the theory is  

often credited to communications professor Jay  Blumler and sociologist Elihu Katz's work in 1974.

Another interesting thing this article  mentioned is a 2004 study published in  

the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior on  uses and gratifications of the internet.  

This research found seven gratifications for media  use ,which are different from the traditional five  

basic areas of media gratifications defined  by previous researchers, these 7 areas are:

2.aesthetic experience 3.monetary compensation 

6.relationship maintenance, and 7.virtual community.

The virtual community need is especially  interesting because it could be considered  

a new gratification as it can only be done  using relatively new technology and media.

We know nowadays because of the  emergence of social media and  

search engine, UGT actually has become  even more relevant than before, but

What are some examples of use and gratification  theory in public relations and social media?

This question was answered by an  article titled "Analyzing the Theory:  

Uses and Gratifications in Public  Relations" written by Elizabeth  

Molek and Hannah Morrissey published  on Penn State University's website.

Since this study was published in 2020,  

it has provided numerous real-world  and current examples of how uses and  

gratification theory might be utilized in  social media and public relations today.

One example is GoPro's social media  campaigns on Instagram. GoPro is a  

camera firm selling cameras specializing in  capturing moments in sports and adventurous  

situations. GoPro's Instagram features daily  “photos of the day and videos of the day”.

Here's how it work, GoPro chooses one  user submission of content like a photo of  

skydiving or video of snorkeling to share on  their Instagram account – and the caption will  

tag the user who sent in the submission while also  mentioning the model of the GoPro camera in use.

By republishing user's photos and tagging them  in these posts , GoPro is able to satisfy user's  

personal integrative needs at the same time  satisfy the audience's tension-free needs,  

by providing exciting contents. Everyone wins!

It is just one example analyzed by this article, I highly recommend reading the whole paper yourself.

Today we learned the concept of  Uses and Gratification Theory,  

five basic areas of human gratifications,  

A little history about UGT and seven  gratifications for media use defined by a 2004  

research, and we also learned how UGT might be useful in today's  world of social media and public relations.

If you made it to the end of the video, chances  are that you enjoy learning what people also  

ask on Google. But let's face it, reading PAA  yourself will be a pain. So here's the deal,  

I will do the reading for you and upload a  video compiling some fun PAAs once a week,  

all you have to do is to hit the  subscribe button and the bell icon  

so you won't miss any PAA report that I  compile. So just do it right now. Bye!

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Uses and Gratification Theory: Concepts, History and Social Media Example

cognitive

relevant

assume

obvious