Posts Tagged: users

Understanding the user is an important step in maximizing the potential of a medium.  Through studying mass communication theory, one can grasp a better sense of particular users.  In my questions that I posited earlier in the week, I was curious about how certain communication research affected the user.

In my first question, I asked about Wimmer and Dominick’s idea about how one could study people in their natural environment when that “natural setting” is online through social networking sites.  I am still not completely sure how one would go about a practical study of observing people on Facebook other than analyzing their profiles and activities, though.  I guess the bigger question that this brings to the surface is the larger concept of a “natural setting” and what constitutes a natural setting.  I believe that this circulates back to the idea of the user–  some users may act on social media sites in a very natural way.  Using social media is second nature.  Social media are still fairly new phenomena, however, and for many people, it is not a natural part of their lives.  These people are still trying to figure out how they will use social media, how the media can help them, how long they will spend on the media, etc.  So, the “natural setting” is in the eye of the beholder– or user.

For my second question, I asked how one could be sure that their human research subjects are only being affected by one variable.  In order to be sure you are only testing one variable, you could create a survey for your participants to learn about anything else in their lives that could skew the results, or you could pull from a specific group that you knew was void of certain problems.

In my last question, I asked how one’s knowledge of communication theories could be beneficial in a workplace environment.  I believe that knowing these basic mass communication theories can greatly benefit one’s career.  I believe that such a knowledge would make one more aware of the consequences of their actions because they have a bigger picture.  Heres a scenario: Two people are working in a newsroom of a local television station.  One reporter possesses the skills to be a vivid storyteller.  The other also possesses these same skills, but has also studied the agenda-setting theory, uses and gratification theory, and the narrative paradigm theory.  This second reporter will be able to produce a story that audiences will more likely be more proactive about viewing, will understand the reasons the producer assigned them that story, and will be able to better communicate with their audience.  We should all hope to be reporter number two.  For in any profession, we should hope to use the theories to tell a better story and connect with our audience.