Audience Theory: Blog Tasks

Hypodermic needle model:

1)
The daily mail supports the hypodermic needle model by stating that people are learning behavioural traits from video games. They believe that when people are playing at least 20 minutes of violent games per day, it influences them to act more aggressive in real life.

2)
Throughout the front page of the newspaper, the idea of the hacker being extremely young is emphasised upon. By describing the 15 year old as a 'violent video game addict' makes him sound as if the violent game had taken over his mind ad actions. This is exactly what the hypodermic needle model is. Some people may argue that the child was only 15 years old therefore easily influenced because of the lack of growth of the mind.

Two-step flow model:

1)
The two-step flow model is a theory that people are more influenced by other people compared to the media. I think that this model still applies to us in todays society as we constantly are listening to what other people say and acting in a certain way because of that.

2)
In the two-step flow model, there is a role called opinion leaders. Total biscuit is an opinion leader based on YouTube who has 2 million subscribers. Due to the number of subscribers, you can say that they have successfully influenced around 2 million people through YouTube.

3)
I would say that the most tweeted twitters have a huge impact on people. I would also say that yes they could be see as opinion leaders however due to the amount of people who comment on their posts or quote their posts, opinions could change in a matter of instances. They would have a very good initial impact on their audiences, however, over time, there may be more and more comments that disagree which sways some of your audience.

4)
Jamal Edwards was a youtuber posting music videos on his YouTube to get appoint certain points/ messages. This ended up being his first step to success. Through time his fame grew and now owns his own company worth at least £8 million. This shows people that skills are important to start up but to build on what you have and to extend further, knowing how to captivate your audience and peruse for better is what really needs to be done. His success has influenced many people, not his videos but him as a person and the way he is.

Uses and gratifications theory:

1)

Diversion:
Spirited away - Spirited away is a fantasy film about supernatural beings. This idea of super naturals in an amusement park is what takes people out of reality and into the world of the movie and make it a good media text for a quick getaway from stress.

Personal relationships:
A silent voice - This movie is about a student who has impaired hearing who gets bullied at school constantly to the point where she decides to transfer schools. For the audience members, they may form that bond with her through the feeling of being sorry for her. The audience member pity's the character and starts to notice them more.

Personal identity:
Waterloo road - Based on real life which allows audience members related to certain scenarios that occur in the drama.

Surveillance:
BBC news - People will watch this to get updates on what goes around in the world. Since BBC is a widely know news channel, people will trust it more easily therefore be more willing to believe what is said on it.

Dependency theory:

1)
I believe that yes people have become more dependant on the media especially as time goes on and technology advances. More and better tech is out with new and more features where media can be shared. Apps like snapchat, Instagram, twitter are all examples of social media apps where huge numbers of people are posting their viewpoints on different topics.

2)
The growth of new and digital technology has clearly had a huge impact on people today. With more people on social media apps, more people are idolizing certain celebrities and acting in certain ways to act like whoever. Just 20 years ago, people wouldn't have even known what social media was but in the last 20 years technology has evolved so much that you will see people ages ranging from 10 to 70 using technology in some shape or form.

3)
Technology has had an impact on me but I don't think that media has had too much of an impact on me. Although I am constantly on my computer or phone, I don't think that I follow the media that much. I choose what I want to read and whether to believe it or not. I think that some media effects me but only if I choose to.

MIGRAIN October assessment learner response

1)

WWW:

You use the products well to focus on detail and support your ideas.

EBI:

You must apply theoretical framework (media theory) consistently and you are missing opportunities to use media specific terminology e.g question 1 is not answering question 1! Watch your written English always makes sense.

2)

Question 1:
I need to apply narrative theories into my answer. This includes figures like Propp, Todorov and Barthes and their theories. I also need to read the question properly ad answer the right question.

Question 2:
As I have written the answer for question 2 in question 1, most of it was already written from before. The end of the answer was weak.

Question 3:
Literacy mistakes and lack of media terminology. Add more relevant detail in my answer to gain more marks.

Question 4:
The opening is a bit confusing and not well written. Be more specific in my answer and add in representation (race, age, genre etc.). Overall, my answer needs to be more developed.

3)

Question 1:
The person has used the narrative theories in their answer as the question says. I did not read the question properly therefore do not have enough about the narrative theories.

Question 2:
The conclusion for the end of the answer is more structured than mine. The point is clear and explained well. Judgement is clear.

Question 3:
The answer is detailed and includes a lot more media technology compared to my answer.

Question 4:
Her opening is strong and clear where mine was unclear and a bit confusing. The person has included a lot off detail in this answer in a shorter amount.

4)

• Propp's character theory
• Todorov's narrative theory
• Barthe's narrative theory
• The word disequilibrium
• Enigma codes
• Iconography
• Narrative
• Effects

5)

My question 2 was the strongest because at that point I read the question properly and I had time to complete it so I did not panic until the end of the question where I realised I did not have much time left. A reason why it wasn't as good as it could have been was because I spent a lot of time doing Q2 in Q1 so when Q2 came around, I couldn't think of anything to write about it.

6)

My weakest question was question 1 because I did not read the question properly and answered the wrong question meaning that 80% of my entire answer was answering Q2 and not Q1. This lost me marks and wasted a lot of my time. 

Audience Classfication Blog Task

1.
Aspires:

Our example couple are Summer, 21 and Adam, 20 from London. They work in retail but attend University and have a high social media presence. They like to keep up with social media influencers and in their free time, spend majority of the time either shopping for the latest trends, or indulging in their hobbies or the luxuries in life. They also perhaps enjoy taking photos and sharing their lives on social media particularly Instagram, in order to achieve validation through their images and to share their latest purchases.

They prefer to read their news through social media and like to keep up with tabloid news over broadsheet. They use Cosmopolitan and Daily Mail to keep up with pop culture and perhaps have a more liberal political view point due to their exposure to the plethora of views online. They might also indulge in magazines such as Vogue and GQ due to their high profile reputation as fashion magazines but also their aesthetically pleasing and extremely photogenic photo spreads and front covers.

Summer and Adam also like tv shows with perhaps some good cultural capital, or films that have a talking point such as Game of thrones, which has some cutting edge cinematography and high recommendations which may attract an aspirers love for extrinsics but also using netflix to stream more mainstream shows such as 13 Reasons Why or award winning films such as La La Land to support their Image over quality stance. Also old 90s shows or early noughties show may attract them since they are easily quotable and can allow an aspirer to post screencaps or quotes on social media in order to create wide range talking points. They listen to radio 1 since they are of a younger age and allows them to listen to a variety of musical genres of a variety of eras.

Aspirers are probably similar to mainstreamers in the fact they most likely have an IPhone since it has a high aesthetic value and probably a macbook for the same reasons. They also probably have the most up to date technology from wireless headphones to laptops to compliment their desire for high quality aesthetics and extrinsic orientated viewpoints. They most likely have an instagram to be able to share their purchases and to share moments that are humble brags such as designer perfumes or the newest shoes.


2.

Which psychographic group do you feel best fits your lifestyle and personality? Explain how and why you made your decision and provide evidence justifying this.

In my opinion, I think that I am an explorer. I want to try new things, I like trying new things whether that is something as simple as trying a new shampoo to learning a new skill set. I think that trying new things makes me feel free and makes me feel as if I can do what I enjoy. After a while, how I feel about what I tried determines if I really enjoyed it or not. The reason why I chose explorer is because there was a time when I was interested in martial arts, I ended up learning 16 different types of martial arts including karate, jujitsu, wing-chun, kendo and more. I also know how to play the piano and guitar. I am currently learning card tricks and cardistry. It's the same with shopping, I am willing to shop anywhere which has something I like in it. I don't mind shopping in a shop that I've never been in because A shop is a shop and because I want to buy items from more than just one or two places only.