Uses and Gratification Theory

I really enjoyed reading the article about uses and gratification theory. I found it very interesting. I remember learning about uses and gratification theory before however, I had forgotten about what the theory actually said. The article defines it as a psychological communication perspective that focuses on how individuals use media and other forms of communication to fulfill their wants and needs.

I think that SNS are a great source to examine the uses and gratification theory. As we have been discussing, people use SNS to connect with people and represent themselves how they want to be seen. The Wollfradt and Doll Internet Motivation scale states there are three underlying motives for using the Internet: information, interpersonal communication, and entertainment. SNS can achieve all three motives. People use SNS to gain information about others; they can use it for interpersonal communication and for entertainment.

I really liked some of the responses the authors got from their study. I liked that people admitted that it is convenient to have conversations via SNS. It allows you time to think about your responses instead of needing to answer instantaneously. The participants also talked about how they liked to look at other people’s profiles but felt uncomfortable when others looked at theirs. The participants were using SNS to gain information however they did not like sharing some of their information with others.

All in all, it was a very interesting article. I would be interested to see what a larger study would show.