Uses and Grati fi cati ons Theory

The Theory• The theory was created by Blumler and Katz. They

thought that the audience play an active role in choosing and using the media. They devised the purposes and what the reader wanted into 4 categories

• Diversion- to escape life and relax• Personal relationship- the need for companionship. To

from relationship (e.g. social networking) • Personal identity- find out about ourselves, gain insight

and reflect themselves• Surveillance- to find out about what's happening around

themLinks to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The audience will get surveillance because they get knowledge of what's going on around them. Diversion because they take a break from their lives to read the magazine and possible companionship if they share the magazine with friends