Uses and Gratifications Research – Katz, Blumler & Gurevitch

Details

Photo

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Name

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Year

1973

Type

Journal article

Core idea

Instead of asking what media do to people, ask what people do with media—different users seek different gratifications.

How I use it

Whenever someone wants a single reason why people use social media, this is my excuse to say, “No, sorry, humans are multitab browsers.”

My take

Feels very 70s survey-heavy, but the core move—audiences as active, needy, slightly messy agents—still rescues me from blaming “the algorithm” for everything.