Each induvidual aspect of a media environment are interconnected and interdependant.

Without the other aspects, the media environment would not be able to work. For example, creators could not work without social media. this is because, they need to be able to advertise the thing that they have created. If they could not advertise it, then nobody would see it and the creator would not make any money. A creator would also need information. Without this, the creator could be speaking about something. but not know any of the real facts and information. They could be speaking from what they heard in a distorted view of what was going on. However, if the creator has social media but doesn’t look at real news stories, then they could just be reading the same distorted view on what is happening. This is how media Impacts on society’s understanding.

Without even one of the aspects, a media environment cannot function properly, and the aspects cannot work without one another. The interdependance between the different aspects is what makes a media environment.

The audience is also important. The reason for this is because the creators need somebody to aim their content at. Without a target audience in mind, their content would not be viewed by anyone which therefore means that they would not make any sales. Without an audience, there would be no need for a government to make rules surrounding content creators because nobody would be viewing the content in the first place. This once again shows how all of the aspects link in with and interdepend on each other. And it shows how the entire media environment could fall apart without one of these aspects.

Reflection:

I am a prosumer of media. A prosumer is somebody who both produces and consumes media. This collage shows the media that I consume and produce. The logo’s that are larger are the media platforms that I use the most often and the smaller ones are the media platforms that I do not use as often. Some of these logo’s/photo’s have letters on them. These letters stand for words that show what I use that media platform for. For example, E stands for Entertainment and SI stands for Social Interaction. PI is the largest, because PI stands for Personal identity and the media that I consume defines who I am.

Personal Identity is where viewers can recognise a person or product, role models that reflect similar values to themselves and mimic or copy some of their characteristics. An example of Personal Identity is Instagram. This is because, on Instagram, you build up  profile for yourself. whether this is through your description on your profile or through the posts you put up, people can see into your world through this profile.

The next type of Gratification is entertainment. This does what is says in the name, it entertains people. A person will go on to the internet and search for something that, most of the time, they will find enjoyable to look at. A great example of entertainment is Youtube. People can go onto youtube and watch anything from stand up comedy to video clips of TV shows. Somebody can go onto Youtube and search for the exact type of video they want to watch. So if a person feels like watching a comedy video, they can, and this will entertain them.

Another type of gratification is Social Interaction. There are many examples of social interaction. Instagram is a form of social interaction, as is Snapchat etc. Social interaction is a way for people to compare with each other through media. Interaction is what makes the world go round. If nobody spoke to each other, then nothing would ever be able to happen in the world. The use of media also means that people can interact with one another remotely, this brings the world closer together, because it makes international relationships and conversations easier.

The final type of gratification is information or knowledge. This is fairly self-explanitory. People can see what is happening throughout the rest of the world through media. Whether they see trending news stories while they are scrolling through social media, or searching through a newspaper website, they will find out about important news wherever they go. If people didn’t know what was going on in the rest of the world, people may be less inclined to donate to charity if they don’t know what they are donating for. With less people donating to charity, people in struggling countries wouldn’t be able to get the support they need. So this is why Informatrion is so important in society, and also why it is so important that we can get information remotely now.

For my music magazine, I want to try and incorperate most of these types of gratification when I co0me to making it. Some types of gratification will be harder to include than others. For example, Social Interaction is harder to include, because the magazine will be made out of paper, and it is harder for people to talk to each other through a piece of paper. To get around this, I could make a virtual version of my magazine that could include a comment section, where people can talk about the things in the magazine. Other forms of gratification can be easier, such as entertainment, because that is the main reason why people buy magazines.