In Chapter 6, The Uses and Benefits of Social Media, I learned about theories that try to answer the question of why people participate in social media and what they get out of it. The uses and gratification theory believes that “people consume media for some purpose and to receive some reward, or gratification” (Humphreys, 83). I definitely believe this theory because subconsciously we all are looking for attention and approval. This can be a like or follow or comment on a post that could change our mood and thoughts about ourselves. This gratification can also be communicating with others including friends and family, to learn about topics, to learn about events and more. To understand and see this theory in action, I looked at Vanessa Hudgens Instagram post. She posted this on January 19th, 2019 right after ENews broke the news that her and her now ex-boyfriend, Austin Butler, broke up. You can see by the photo that it is a risky and seductive photo. I believe that she posted this photo taken on the set of the movie, Spring Breakers, to gain attention from most likely the male species to gain attention and gratification so that she can ultimately feel better about the break up. While I do not know exactly why she choose to post this photo in particular I can see that she is posting it to perceive herself as feeling happy and single, when she could be feeling very lonely and sad. If she received good feedback from this photo it reinforces the theory’s idea of “positive feedback from others reinforces the behavior” and “negative feedback, would likely weaken our behavior” (Humphrey, 84). As you can see she had many likes on the photo and continued to post a lot more photos of herself after this one.
Cinema Media Studies 