There are different forms of media that portray all types of information. However, the one issue that all types of media face is being able to keep an audience. In my opinion I believe that keeping an audience is one of the toughest things to accomplish. From my experience, when I would try to hold an audience through the streaming service, Twitch, it was a difficult thing to do. I never understood why, but my thought was because when I would stream on this platform, the only audience I would get would be the ones interested in a specific game. So I have not be able to reach all types of audiences and I never knew why.
But I have learned how researchers have kept an active audience through the different models and theories. Thomas Ruggiero explains in his article, “Uses and Gratifications Theory in the 21st Century” about how past researchers have learned to keep all types of people invested in their media. The article starts off with explaining what uses and gratification actually means. To start off, Ruggiero explains the early history of communications and the research that has been conducted. As stated by the research article from Cantril and Allport (1935), an approach was developed that helps understand gratifications and how different types of media platforms are able to attract different audiences. While also being able to understand how these platforms are able to hold these audiences once they become attracted to the content that is provided. Another thing that Cantril learns is that in order for people to be attracted to the different kinds of media, the information that they portray must “satisfy their social and psychological needs.”
Later in the document, Ruggiero explains how research has developed over time. He explains how the research has found new information beginning from the 1960s and 1970s to the 1980s, 1990s, and also present day. The main portion of the article from Ruggiero that I want to focus on is when he talked about the 1960s. In the 1960s, the type of medium that was mainly researched was the radio. This was because there was no other popular types of media platforms such as social media or even television. Sure television was popular, but the radio was more listened to.
From the research by Mendelsohn (1964), he explains that there are “several generalized functions of radio listening: companionship, bracketing the day, changing mood, counteracting loneliness or boredom, providing useful news and information, allowing vicarious participation in events, and aiding social interaction.” This helps researchers understand how an audience is able to stay attracted to a type of media platform, specifically a medium. The radio focused on straying away from boring information and will have specific information that supports social interaction.
While this article provides a ton of important information, I focused on the research conducted in the 1960s because I feel as if I am less knowledgeable about attracting an audience during that era. Today I believe that it is easier to attract and hold an audience because I use a ton of social media platforms and have experienced the growth in technology. I therefore believe I can relate with a majority of social media platforms and understand how these content creators attract and hold audiences. Overall, it is important for different media platforms to focus on the type of audience they have and how they can grow that audience through the different mediums.
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