Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century(USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY )

ACTIVE AUDIENCE
Also, in the 1980s, researchers reevaluated the long-held notion of an active audience. During this time, some researchers reiterated that although both uses and effects sought to explain the outcomes or consequences of mass communication, they
did so by recognizing the potential for audience initiative and activity (Rubin,
1994b). Levy and Windahl (1984) attempted to articulate a theoretically more complete notion of audience activity and to test a model of audience orientations that
linked activity to U&G, and Rubin (1984) suggested that audience activity is not an
absolute concept, but a variable one. Notably, Windahl (1981) argued that “the notion of activeness leads a picture of the audience as superrational and very selective,
a tendency which invites criticism” (p. 176). Instead, he argued audience activity
covers a range of possible orientations to the communication process, a range that
“varies across phases of the communication sequence” (Levy & Windahl, 1984, p.
73). More succinctly, different individuals tend to display different types and
amounts of activity in different communication settings and at different times in the
communication process.
In support of this, theoretical active audience models have increasingly emerged
that range from high audience activity to low levels of involvement. For example,
both dependency and deprivation theories suggest that some individuals under certain conditions such as confinement to home, low income, and some forms of stress
formhigh levels of attachmentto media.These include television (Grant,Guthrie,&
Ball-Rokeach, 1991), newspapers (Loges & Ball-Rokeach, 1993), and communication technologies such as remote control devices (Ferguson & Perse, 1994).
DEPENDENCY THEORY
Media dependency theory itself posits that media influence is determined by the interrelations between the media, its audience, and society (DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach,
1982). The individual’s desire for information from the media is the primary variable in explaining why media messages have cognitive, affective, or variable effects. Media dependency is high when an individual’s goal satisfaction relies on in-
8 RUGGIEROformation from the media system (Ball-Rokeach, 1985). Rubin and Windahl (1986)
augmented the dependency model to include the gratifications sought by the audience as an interactive component with media dependency. For Rubin and Windahl,
the combination of gratifications sought and socially determined dependency produced media effects.They argued thatdependency on a mediumor a message results
when individuals either intentionally seek out information or ritualistically use specific communication media channels or messages. For example, McIlwraith (1998)
found that self-labeled “TV addicts” often used television to distract themselves
from unpleasant thoughts, to regulate moods, and to fill time. This link between dependency and functionalalternatives illustrates how U&G is a theory “capable of interfacing personal and mediated communication” (Rubin, 1994b, p. 428).

formation from the media system (Ball-Rokeach, 1985). Rubin and Windahl (1986)
augmented the dependency model to include the gratifications sought by the audience as an interactive component with media dependency. For Rubin and Windahl,
the combination of gratifications sought and socially determined dependency produced media effects.They argued thatdependency on a mediumor a message results
when individuals either intentionally seek out information or ritualistically use specific communication media channels or messages. For example, McIlwraith (1998)
found that self-labeled “TV addicts” often used television to distract themselves
from unpleasant thoughts, to regulate moods, and to fill time. This link between dependency and functionalalternatives illustrates how U&G is a theory “capable of interfacing personal and mediated communication” (Rubin, 1994b, p. 428).

DEPRIVATION THEORY
Deprivation theory has an even longer history in U&G research than dependency
theory. Berelson (1949) studied the effects of the 1945 strike of eight major New
York City daily newspapers on audience behavior. Since that time, additional studies of media strikes have emerged: Kimball (1959) replicated Berelson’s study during the 1958 New York City newspaper strike; de Bock (1980) studied the effects of
newspaper and television strikes in the Netherlands in 1977; Cohen (1981) examined a general media strike; and Walker (1990) analyzed viewers’ reactions to the
1987 National Football League players’ strike.
Related, Windahl, Hojerback, and Hedinsson (1986) suggested that the consequences of a media strike for adolescents were connected to the total degree of perceived deprivation of television as well as the specific content such as entertainment, information, and fiction. These deprivations are related both to media
variables like exposure, involvement, and motives, and nonmedia variables such as
socioconcept orientation and activities with friends and parents. Windahl et al.
found that individuals in more socially oriented environments tended to feel more
deprived than those in conceptually oriented settings.