Audience Theories Continued...

Over a period of time, it became apparent to media theorists that audiences made choices about what they did when consuming texts. Far from being a passive mass, audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons and in different ways e.g. semiotics.

In 1970, Halloran said, "We must get away from the habit of thinking in terms of what the media do to people and substitute for it the idea of what people do with the media." In other words, the consumer now has a say in what they want from the media.

Wright Mill decided the four functions of the media for the audience are:

·         To give individuals identity

·         To give people aspiration

·         To give people instruction

·         To give people a form of escapism
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Researchers Blumler and Brown (1972) and Katz (1959) expanded this theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes (i.e. uses and gratifications). The theory is about “what people do with media” rather than “what the media does to people”. Therefore, this theory suggests that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs, instead of assuming people are passive, powerful to resist information. The approach also suggests that people use the media to fulfil specific gratifications. Here are four primary factors for which one may use the media:

·         Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine/reality. e.g. Soap operas: it is suggested that many people escape reality by watching programmes like Coronation Street, with the intention of making them feel better about themselves as a person.

·         Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g.  someone is watching The Only Way Is Essex on TV, they don't necessarily like it, but they watch it to be able to create a discussion with somebody about the programme the following day. Also, there is a belief that people prefer to use the media as a substitute for 'real contact'. For example, social networking sites such as Facebook; some people don't have the confidence to communicate with someone in person, so they use this as a way of making friends.

·         Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts. For example, if a person liked Q magazine and they aspire to be like some of the artists featured, they would "mold" themselves into somebody that they see and even change their personality based on things that they read.
 

·         Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living e.g. This doesn't  mean watching the weather or reading a newspaper, it includes things like Facebook surveillance of what your peers are doing, when they update their statuses.