This task allowed me to much better visualize and understand the diversity and breadth of not only my own but most people’s media intake, as both consumers and producers.
It is evidenced in my collage that, following the theory by Blumler and Katz, the media in our lives spans over four primary areas of concentration, referred to as uses and gratifications, these being;
- Entertainment/Diversion– Media designed to distract from everyday life and offer an escape from mediocrity
- Social Interaction– Media which allows a connection and interaction between users
- Personal Identity– Media which can be used to define a person through their own individual interests, hobbies and opinions
- Information/Surveillance– Media made to inform, educate and communicate data to an audience
By completing this task I am now able to better categorize, identify and understand different areas of media and apply these categories of uses and gratification to my own creations. This can then be applied when creating my own magazine, ensuring it covers multiple uses and gratifications, so is both informative and entertaining to the consumer.