Web 2.0 has developed extensively over the last decade, allowing audiences that had previously only consumed media to become active users through user generated content such as social networks and YouTube. Not only can audiences consume but they can also create and share their own media products and essentially become the ‘producers’ themselves. This change in roles has meant that audiences have a much more thorough understanding of media content, how and why it’s made and their target audiences. Audience’s no longer like to be passive consumers and be manipulated by the media but instead want to share their own opinions and shape what exactly they are consuming.
The Hypodermic Needle Theory would be a great example of how much Web 2.0 has compromised audience theories. When it was developed in the 1920’s and 30’s audiences received the information passively, which the media ‘injected’ to them unchallenged. This was how the idea of ‘mass media’ was developed as the audience was seen as one mass all consuming the few media products available, giving out the same message. Today, however the idea of a ‘mass audience’ can’t fully be applied as there is such a diverse range of media products available, such as the millions of websites and hundreds of television channels which all have various messages. Only really saturday night television such as the X Factor or soaps which are watched by millions of people can be termed as a ‘mass audience’, however as these programmes are multi-platform and indeed, have voting lines, the audience is still very much involved and in the case of X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent very much have a say in what they are watching.
The next theory that may also not fully work today, could be the Two-Step Flow. This is based on the idea that the media has a sender (producer) which relates the content to the opinion leader who then sends it to the consumer (main audience). For instance with Web 2.0 the producer (a part of the audience) can instantly send their content out into the world to the consumer so in this case often their is no opinion leader. However in order to be successful often an opinion leader is needed to point consumers in the right direction. This can be in the form of social networks or important bloggers or users that are ‘opinion leaders’ whose followers are open to what they suggest to consume.
Yet, however modern the audiences and the ways of consuming C Wright Mills’ functions of the media for the audience can still apply. His four functions were; to give individuals identity, give people goals and aspirations, give instructions on how to achieve thus goals, give people alternatives if they’ve failed i.e. escapism. Most television content can fit into this theory. Soaps, sitcoms and some dramas are escapism, whereas documentaries, DIY and cookery shows can help give people goals and the instructions to achieve them. Online a lot of YouTube content is aspirational, the online community can help form identities and the fictional and comedy shows can help achieve escapism - all of which created by users. The fundamentals of pleasing an audience will remain the same whether a product is created by a professional producer or a ‘consumer’ producer if they want to be successful at reaching audiences. In fact, there is a fine line between professional and amateur online as those ‘consumers’ that are successful can often turn producing content into their full-time jobs thus becoming the professional. Through the development of Web 2.0 the lines are blurred between ‘audience member’ and ‘producer’, making it even harder to define them. Indeed the reason for the millions of websites and hundreds of television channels is due to the realisation that audiences are no longer one mass but are all individuals wanting different things, which can be hard to cater for. Audiences can also be the biggest critics as they can interpret media texts differently, being producers themselves.
The uses and gratifications theory is another indication of how audience needs have changed. In 1974, Blumler and Katz believed that audiences have four basic needs when choosing to consume a media text; diversion (escapism), personal relationships (identification), personal identity (comparison) and surveillance (world awareness). Clearly these cannot all be applied today, as audience needs can be far more complex than this, and perhaps only developed these ‘needs’ as a response to the media they already experienced.
The reception theory is the most contemporary theory, having been developed in the 1980’s and 90’s and is based on Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model of the relationship between the audience and the text. A media product begins by being encoded by producers, then it is decoded by the audience. There can be many readings of the product by the audience, which are based on each audience members background, experience, class, age, gender, ethnicity etc.
However, the producers can create a ‘preferred’ reading using codes and conventions, so the audience can understand the general meaning of the text and generally agree on the meaning of the code.
The Hypodermic Needle Theory would be a great example of how much Web 2.0 has compromised audience theories. When it was developed in the 1920’s and 30’s audiences received the information passively, which the media ‘injected’ to them unchallenged. This was how the idea of ‘mass media’ was developed as the audience was seen as one mass all consuming the few media products available, giving out the same message. Today, however the idea of a ‘mass audience’ can’t fully be applied as there is such a diverse range of media products available, such as the millions of websites and hundreds of television channels which all have various messages. Only really saturday night television such as the X Factor or soaps which are watched by millions of people can be termed as a ‘mass audience’, however as these programmes are multi-platform and indeed, have voting lines, the audience is still very much involved and in the case of X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent very much have a say in what they are watching.
The next theory that may also not fully work today, could be the Two-Step Flow. This is based on the idea that the media has a sender (producer) which relates the content to the opinion leader who then sends it to the consumer (main audience). For instance with Web 2.0 the producer (a part of the audience) can instantly send their content out into the world to the consumer so in this case often their is no opinion leader. However in order to be successful often an opinion leader is needed to point consumers in the right direction. This can be in the form of social networks or important bloggers or users that are ‘opinion leaders’ whose followers are open to what they suggest to consume.
Yet, however modern the audiences and the ways of consuming C Wright Mills’ functions of the media for the audience can still apply. His four functions were; to give individuals identity, give people goals and aspirations, give instructions on how to achieve thus goals, give people alternatives if they’ve failed i.e. escapism. Most television content can fit into this theory. Soaps, sitcoms and some dramas are escapism, whereas documentaries, DIY and cookery shows can help give people goals and the instructions to achieve them. Online a lot of YouTube content is aspirational, the online community can help form identities and the fictional and comedy shows can help achieve escapism - all of which created by users. The fundamentals of pleasing an audience will remain the same whether a product is created by a professional producer or a ‘consumer’ producer if they want to be successful at reaching audiences. In fact, there is a fine line between professional and amateur online as those ‘consumers’ that are successful can often turn producing content into their full-time jobs thus becoming the professional. Through the development of Web 2.0 the lines are blurred between ‘audience member’ and ‘producer’, making it even harder to define them. Indeed the reason for the millions of websites and hundreds of television channels is due to the realisation that audiences are no longer one mass but are all individuals wanting different things, which can be hard to cater for. Audiences can also be the biggest critics as they can interpret media texts differently, being producers themselves.
The uses and gratifications theory is another indication of how audience needs have changed. In 1974, Blumler and Katz believed that audiences have four basic needs when choosing to consume a media text; diversion (escapism), personal relationships (identification), personal identity (comparison) and surveillance (world awareness). Clearly these cannot all be applied today, as audience needs can be far more complex than this, and perhaps only developed these ‘needs’ as a response to the media they already experienced.
The reception theory is the most contemporary theory, having been developed in the 1980’s and 90’s and is based on Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model of the relationship between the audience and the text. A media product begins by being encoded by producers, then it is decoded by the audience. There can be many readings of the product by the audience, which are based on each audience members background, experience, class, age, gender, ethnicity etc.
However, the producers can create a ‘preferred’ reading using codes and conventions, so the audience can understand the general meaning of the text and generally agree on the meaning of the code.
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