Audience Theory

Audience Theory

Subjectivities – used to engage with an audience and refine their social position

Who are the audience?

Who is the spectator (the audience that was not targeted)?

Who controls the audience?

Who has the power?

Is the message a “drug”? (What keeps the audience viewing?)

Hypodermic-syringe Theory

The media injects the audience

Certain values and messages are hidden behind the media. The media controls the message and influences the audience. For example, Fox News, The Daily Mail. The audience is weak and vulnerable, easily led, drugged, dumb and duped. The audience must be protected from the power of the media. The problem with the HS theory is that it views the media in a negative term and the audience is viewed as an “experiment”

Uses and Gratifications Theory

How do YOU use the media?

Some uses of media are Education, Escapism, Information, Self-Identification, Entertainment, Social and Sexual Stimulation. You are the media and the audience (the prosumer). The problem is that anyone can put anything on leading to narrowcasting, which narrows your point of view. The model uses the media in a neutral light. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

 

Two-Step Flow Theory

Two step flow theory states that are powerful sources called “opinion leaders” that have most influence and that these opinion leaders change dramatically over time. These are normally found in social networking, virals and recommendations, cults, niche audiences.

 

Reception Theory

Reception theory states that, when faced with a message from the media, you can agree (preferred), disagree (oppositional) or modify it (negotiated).Meaning isn’t fixed and determined. Meaning can be negotiated, encoded or decoded. What THEY think it means and what YOU decide its means.