Uses and gratification theory

The uses and gratification theory is a theory that asks people what they do with the media rather than what the media does with people (Katz 1959 ) .
It assumes that members of the audience take an active role in interpreting media into their lives this means that people are responsible for the media they watch because they watch it to match their needs .

Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for people in society;

• Surveillance 
• Correlation
• entertainment 
• cultural transmission 

Bulmer and Katz expanded on this theory in 1974 and stated that individuals used media texts for their own purposes;

• Diversion- To escape from everyday problems and routines .
• Personal relationships- Using media for emotions and interactions  this can mean looking at a piece of media and relating it to their family life.
• Personal identity- Learning behaviour and values from texts .
• Surveillance- Information which could be useful in their day to day life such as watching the weather and sports .