Social media has become a powerful tool that many claim to use to stay in touch with the world around them. Motivations for using different platforms can vary, and the Uses and Gratifications Theory focuses on media use and what motivates different kinds of media use. According to this theory…

Social media on average is used as a social tool to stay connected with other people, such as staying up to date on other’s lives and important events, or to use use it to stay updated about current news. Regardless, it is most commonly a tool to stay connected with…

Television in the United States became widely popular in the 1950s after the new medium inherited entertainment content from its predecessor, the radio. The attraction to the relatively new medium “…created significant displacements among the other media. It quickly attracted advertising dollars from print and radio, and it took audiences…

Exemplification is a theory that explains people understand issues by how people are effected by such issues, and that people have the tendency to treat examples given by the media as typical cases if they have no first-hand experience or prior exposure to the issue. This tendency can be problematic…

Catharsis can be described as the process of viewing others release negative emotions which in turn can cause those watching to release negative emotions themselves if they have any. The Netflix series “13 Reasons Why” is a good example of a media source that can provide a cathartic experience. The…

When referring to priming, it can be described as how words and concepts in memory are linked together, and that associations between concepts can be formed or further built upon. Leonard Berkowitz expanded on this theory with his cognitive neoassociationistic model, wherein the model explains that violence in media can…

The Agenda Setting Theory essentially states that news media can influence what we think is important, but typically filters information so that only a partial picture is provided and therefore does not necessarily represent reality. What the news media considers important tends to lead viewers to believe the same things…

Many may be familiar with the term “media influencer” as social media platforms have gained prominence over the last decade, and it is not uncommon for younger viewers especially to have specific content creators that they follow closely. To put this into scope for younger, college-aged individuals, YouTube, Instagram, and…