comm theory_uses and gratifications

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Uses and Gratifications 1

Uses and Gratifications: Blogging in a post-Rising World

Daniel Shull

California State University East Bay

Author Note

Daniel Shull, Communication Major, California State University East Bay, as part of the

Communications 3003 course Philosophy and Theory of Communication, taught by Dr. Terry

West.

Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Daniel Shull, Communication

Major, Meiklejohn Hall, California State University East Bay, Hayward, CA 94542. E-mail:

[email protected]


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Uses and Gratifications: Blogging in a post-Rising World

At its base, the media communication theory of uses and gratification states that an

audience makes use of media messages as they receive them, and asks to what ends that audience

uses those messages and what form of gratification that audience receives from those messages.

In the book Feed, by Mira Grant, the hook is that the dead have risen, a la George

Romero; it then deals with the effects on a world twenty-five years after the Rising. Without

bogging down in too much technical detail, zombies are created by a virus that reanimates people

who die, and those zombies then seek to spread the virus any way possible. Due to this, a

majority of people in the United States (the setting of the book; a few other countries are

mentioned, but the tone of the book is more one of isolation) make use of the Internet to receive

their information and connect with the world.

The plot of the book revolves around two characters, Georgia and Shaun Mason (those

names being among the most popular for children born post-Rising), how they become attached

to the first presidential campaign to make use of social media directly, and the consequences.

As necessary background for this paper, I do need to cover a few points from the book.

Bloggers in the post-Rising world are generally divided into three camps: Newsies, who report

on the news with a varying degree of journalistic ethics; Irwins, who go out and harass danger

to give the relatively housebound general populace a little thrill... (Grant, 2010, p 50); and

Fictionals, who create and write poetry, stories, and the like. Newsies can choose to be

monitored; the book makes reference to two database sites that track and self-police bloggers

who register with those sites. And WiFi is nearly ubiquitous, allowing for uploads of data,

reports, videos and other forms of information from nearly anywhere.


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A Baseline Look at Uses and Gratification

In the paper written by Katz, Blumler and Gurevich (1973), they examine a number of

studies about media gratification and begin by distilling the elements of uses and gratification

into these steps:

[The studies] are concerned with: (1) the social and psychological origins of (2)

needs, which generate (3) expectations of (4) the mass media or other sources,

which lead to (5) differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in otheractivities), resulting in (6) need gratifications and (7) other consequences, perhaps

mostly unintended ones (Katz, et al., 1973, p. 510).

In basic terms within Feed, bloggers serve as one major source of gratification for a very

large audience. Regarding points one and two above, in the post-Rising world, humanity is

constantly at risk for potentially becoming a zombie (because everyone has the virus), and this

risk increases hugely when you get groups of people together in confined spaces like

gymnasiums and conference centers. This leads to a social and psychological need for

connection with other human beings while avoiding risk factors like turning into a zombie (social

needs at cross-purposes with survival needs).

With regard to points three through five I will need to add some information from the

book. At the time of the Rising, traditional news media such as television and newspapers

downplayed the events, while bloggers were bound by nothing more than the speed of their

typing (Grant, 2010, p. 48). In effect, the bloggers were getting survival information out to the

general populace. Bloggers therefore became part of the mass media, which then lead to further

expectations on the part of the audience and caused growth within that sector of the mass media.

As the audience paid more and more attention to the bloggers, their expectations led to the

previously mentioned divisions within the blogging community as the size of the community

grew.


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For points six and seven, the needs of the audience for things like safety, connection,

information, entertainment and escapism were and are provided by the bloggers. As one of the

central protagonists writes in her blog, Were the all purpose opiate of the new millennium: We

report the news, we make the news, and we give you a way to escape when the news becomes

too much to handle (Grant, 2010, p. 50). Other consequences of this cycle can be seen in the

ubiquity of WiFi (how else would someone get information distributed from anywhere to

anywhere), the existence of blogging licenses that allow bloggers to enter infected zones, and

ultimately, the decision of the political candidate in the story to allow bloggers on his run to the

White House.

Elements of the Uses and Gratifications Model

Katz, et al.(1973) cite the work of Lundberg and Hulten (1968) in their paper as having

developed a model of the uses and gratifications theory, and focus on five elements of that

theory.

First, the audience is seen as being an active participant in the consumption of mass

media. Throughout Feed the protagonists talk about ratings how many people on the Internet

are reading their stories, watching their videos, downloading their files. This fits in extremely

well with this first element, and provides something in the story that we do not fully have in our

day and age: instant feedback. Georgia and Shaun Mason know within minutes the impact of the

stories they post, and where that ranks them in terms of traffic to their website.

Second, the audience members link gratification of their needs and their choice of media.

This isnt something that is stated directly within the book, but the existence of Newsies, Irwins

and Fictionals pretty much assumes that element. People who choose to monitor Irwins are

looking for specific needs to be gratified, for example.


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The third element is that media competes with other ways that the audience can satisfy

their needs. Since the media in the form of blogging is the focus of the story, other forms of

competition are not mentioned. I asked the author about non-Internet forms of media, and Grant

(personal communication, March 8, 2011) replied that printed newspapers were primarily used

by the wealthy or the old, and that film and television still exist in the post-Rising world. She

also noted that movie theaters were less common and that Pay-Per-View and On-Demand have

largely become the "first run movie" venue of choice (Grant, personal communication, March 8,

2011).

The fourth element is that people know themselves well enough to be able to self-report

their interests and motivations. Again, the drive for ratings functions as an indicator for this (at

least in implication throughout the story). Rather than any form of quantitative study on

audience members, web traffic ratings function much the same way to provide similar levels of

data, though any statistical analysis takes place off screen as well.

The fifth element points out that value judgments about the cultural significance of mass

media should be suspended while audience orientations are explored on their own terms (Katz,

et al., 1973, p. 511). While this element of the uses and gratifications model does not receive

any specific attention within the story, the book was written from the viewpoint of people inside

this particular form of mass media. From a readers perspective, the book emphasizes ethical

journalism no matter the source without drifting into value judgments regarding other mass

media.

Issues of Uses and Gratification

As Katz, et al. (1973) focus on the theory, they examine eight specific issues to be

addressed in developing this theory: typologies of gratification, gratifications and needs, sources


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of media gratification, gratifications and media attributes, media attributes as perceived or

intrinsic, social origins of audience needs and their gratifications, versatility of sources of need

satisfaction, and gratifications and effects. For the purposes of this paper, I will address two of

these in detail and consider the remainder as a group.

In terms of typologies of gratification, the bloggers of the post-Rising world of Feed fit

into four divisions: diversion/entertainment is primarily handled by the Fictionals, though Irwins

also provide some for a more thrill-seeking audience; surveillance is provided by Newsies who

not only report on outbreaks and potential danger sources, but also by Irwins who record their

involvement with the outside world; personal relationships come about not only through the

interaction of alpha and beta bloggers but also through interactions between bloggers and the

rest of the world; and connection (as an encompassing concept) comes through the medium of

the Internet, which allows a formerly social humanity the ability to remain social even in the

middle of isolation.

Katz, et al. (1973) examine the social origins of needs and gratification by suggesting an

initial structure to the social factors involved. It must be noted that the authors were writing

before the Internet came into the level of usage it is at now, much less in the fictional world of

Feed; their categorization is still valid in examining the book. First, social tensions and conflicts

can be eased through use of mass media. Again, the existence of both Fictionals and Irwins

allows for an outlet for the audience. Second, information about social problems can be sought

through the mass media. This is where Newsies come into play; Georgia Mason reports on the

day-to-day of the presidential campaign, and the candidate (Senator Ryman) addresses social

problems during at least one town hall meeting over the course of the book. Third, the mass

media can provide complementary, supplementary or substitute servicing (Katz, et al., 1973, p.


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517) for needs that are not being satisfied in real life. This rings especially true in a world where

the apparent majority of the population live as shut-ins with limited means for social interaction.

The fourth point made is that audiences can use the mass media to affirm and reinforce values

they hold; an indirect example exists in another presidential campaign where the candidate

(Governor Tate) appeals to more conservative religious voters by matching their values. Fifth,

people use their familiarity with certain media to monitor and remain part of valued social

groupings (Katz, et al., 1973, p. 517). Another indirect example of this is how the protagonists

follow blogs for the news in the rest of the United States.

The remaining issues tend to fall into one of two categories: they are limited because of

the focus of the book on bloggers specifically, or they have already been addressed in part

because of my focus on the specific issues. When a specific form of mass media dominates an

environment and that media focuses on fulfilling a broad range of needs, there is little need for

inter-media comparison. And Ive already pointed out how Newsies, Irwins and Fictionals cover

a majority of the bases of peoples needs previously in this paper.

Conclusion

Feed takes an extreme example of mass media specialization and examines it both in

terms of how and why it happened (the Rising) and the impact of that specialization on a world

that makes use of this form of mass media to gratify a wide variety of needs. The book

demonstrates the utility of the uses and gratification theory even when applied to only one

form of mass media in a hypothetical framework. It also ends up being an excellent political and

horror story, paired quite well with the examination of blogging as mass media.


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References

Grant, M. (2010). Feed. New York, NY: Orbit.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

RESEARCH. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

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