15.2 Active Audience and Uses and Gratifications Approach
3 min read•july 18, 2024
Media consumers aren't passive sponges soaking up content. They actively engage, interpret, and create meaning based on their own experiences and beliefs. This concept of the "" challenges the idea that media messages have a uniform impact on everyone.
The "" approach looks at why people choose certain media. It suggests we pick content that fulfills specific needs, like staying informed, exploring our identity, connecting with others, or just escaping reality for a bit.
The Active Audience
Concept of active audience
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Suggests media consumers actively engage with content rather than passively absorbing messages
Viewers, readers, and listeners interpret, negotiate, and construct meaning based on individual experiences, beliefs, and social contexts (personal background, cultural norms)
Audiences selectively expose themselves to media that aligns with their existing attitudes and beliefs ()
Audiences can resist or subvert dominant media messages and create alternative interpretations (, )
Uses and gratifications approach
Focuses on why and how people use media to satisfy specific needs and desires
Assumes individuals have particular reasons for consuming media and actively seek out content that fulfills those needs ()
Emphasizes psychological and social factors influencing media choices and consumption patterns (personality traits, social connections)
Posits that media compete with other sources of need satisfaction (interpersonal relationships, hobbies)
Suggests people are aware of their media-related needs and can articulate them ()
Needs from media consumption
Information and surveillance
Keeping up with current events and news (staying informed)
Learning about the world and satisfying curiosity (educational content)
Seeking advice, opinions, and decision-making support (product reviews, political commentary)
Finding role models and identifying with characters (celebrities, fictional protagonists)
Gaining insight into one's self and reinforcing personal values, attitudes, and beliefs (self-reflection, value affirmation)
Expressing and exploring aspects of identity (fashion, music preferences)
Facilitating conversations and providing common talking points (water cooler discussions)
Enhancing social connections and enabling a sense of belonging (fandom communities)
Reducing feelings of loneliness and isolation ( with media figures)
and
Relaxation and diversion from daily routines (leisure activities)
Emotional release and catharsis (tearjerkers, horror films)
Experiencing vicarious thrills, adventures, and fantasies (action movies, romance novels)
Individual agency in media selection
Refers to audiences' capacity to make autonomous decisions about media consumption
People actively choose content based on needs, preferences, and expectations (personalized media diets)
Audiences interpret messages in ways that align with or challenge personal beliefs and experiences (, )
Factors influencing media choices and interpretations: