UNIT 7
4 ways how people use the mass
media
HOW PEOPLE USE THE MASS MEDIA
4 ways how people use the mass media:
• Cognition
• Diversion
• Social utility
• Withdrawal
1. COGNITION
• Cognition is the act of coming to know
something. When a person uses a mass
medium to obtain information about
something, then he or she is using the
medium in a cognitive way. Clearly, the
individual's cognitive use of a medium is
directly parallel to the surveillance function at
the macroanalytical level.
COGNITION
• At the individual level, researchers have noted
that two different types of cognitive functions
are performed:
– One using the media to keep up with information
on current events, while the other using the
media to learn about things in general or things
that relate to a person's general curiosity.
COGNITION
– Reasons people use media to keep up with current
events:
• I want to keep up with what the government is doing.
• I want to understand what is going on in the world.
• I want to know what political leaders are doing.
– Reasons of using media to learn about things in
general or relate to a person's general curiosity:
•
•
•
•
I want to learn how to do things I've never done before
I want to satisfy my curiosity
The media make me want to learn more about things
The media give me ideas.
2. DIVERSION
• 3 types of diversion:
i.
Stimulation/Seeking relief from boredom or the
routine activities of everyday life
ii. Relaxation/escape from the pressures and
problems of day-to-day existance
iii. Emotional release
DIVERSION
• 3 types of diversion (cont…)
i. Stimulation
– Many people state that they watch, read or listen
simply to pass the time.
– The media have taken advantage of
this need to avoid boredom in many
creative ways:
• Some airlines provide audio and video
entertainment during long flights.
• Advertisers are now found on walls
and the backs of stall doors in rest rooms.
DIVERSION
3 types of diversion (cont…)
ii. Relaxation
– Watching American Idol or reading People magazine
represents a pleasant diversion from the frustrations of
everyday life.
iii. Emotional release
– This form is the most complex.
– The use of the media for emotional release is fairly
obvious. People goes to theaters to watch Scream, The
Ring, etc and screamed their lungs out.
– Tearjerkers also drawn crowds. Titanic, and Pearl Harbour,
for example, have prompted thousands, perhaps millions,
to cry their eyes out.
DIVERSION
• Why do audiences cheer when Liverpool
wins?
• Probably because people enjoy a certain
amount of emotional release. People feel
better after a good scream or good cry.
3. SOCIAL UTILITY
Types of social utility:
1. Conversational currency
•
The media provide a common ground for social
conversations, and many people use things that they
have read, seen or heard as topics for discussion
when talking with others.
• Have you ever talked with a friend about a TV program?
• Have you ever discussed a current movie or the latest
record you heard on the radio?
2. Overcome loneliness
4. WITHDRAWAL
• At times, people use the mass media to create a barrier
between themselves and other people or activities. The
media help people avoid certain chores that should be
done.
It’s your turn
to clean the
house
I can’t. I want
to finish
watching this
program. You
media
content
do it.
• In this case, attending to mass
was
defined as a socially appropriate behaviour that should
not be interrupted.
WITHDRAWAL
• People use the media to create a buffer zone
between themselves and other people.
DISCUSSION
• Why do you watch TV?
• Why do you go to movies?
• Can you find any more current examples of
linkage, media dysfunction, interpretation,
etc.?