Communication Theory
Nowadays, the audience actively participates in the media message processing and influences the content that is channeled. Cognitive capacities of humans allow them to perceive and analyze the information presented in media and position it with the help of previous knowledge, scripts, expectations and attitudes. Facebook is one of the most popular social network sites that channels huge amount of information that is processed by the wide range of audience every minute. The two theories are applied to analyze Facebook as a form of media communication: a uses and gratification theory and schema theory. The way the audience approaches this form of communication may be explained by the uses and gratifications theory that is capable of showing the forces that govern people’s motivation to use the website and the needs that are satisfied with the help of communication processes available there. On the other hand, schema theory is applicable for the analysis of the ways the users of Facebook perceive and interpret the information, use cognitive representations to form opinions about the events and identities, as well as present themselves on their webpages and in the process of interaction with other users.
Overview of the Applied Theories
The uses and gratifications theory. It is an approach to mass communication that emphasizes the role of the audience, rather than the message itself. The uses and gratifications theory has received a key role in interpreting the media since the introduction of the Internet in mass communication (Ruggiero 3). Basically, it concentrates on the particular ways the members of the audience use the media, establishing audience-centered approach. However, the level of involvement in media by a person depends on the variety of factors ranging from age and gender to income levels and social position. The person is to decide what media to choose, what information to process and in what way the media should be integrated into their lives. This choice is dependent on specific needs the person has and wants to satisfy. According to the theory, there are several basic social and psychological motivations that govern the choice of media or other communication form. These motivations include the educational purposes, entertainment with escapism as part of it, the search of role models and identification, as well as social interaction. The audience forms expectations of media based on the motivation that governs its choice and leads to gratification and particular consequences. Therefore, the uses and gratifications theory explores how people gratify their needs by using media, analyze the motivations for their media choice and activity and study the possible consequences of such use.
Schema theory. This approach focuses on interpretation of the information processing that happens in the minds of the audience’s member. The theory derives from the entity called “schema” that means a cognitive representation in the person’s mind of certain set of information about reality that is based on previous experience and knowledge. It is not the knowledge as such, but rather particular frames and patterns that organize the knowledge. The schemata are particularly important for retrieving information from the memory and perceiving, evaluating and remembering new information, as the audience receives the information piece that interacts with previous knowledge and is integrated into it. It means that every person understands the same information differently, based on schemata they have. The categorization of information happens on different levels: language, ideology, gender, culture, scripts for events and stereotypes. In terms of media messages, social and textual schemata play a key role. Social schemata render the knowledge about events, behavior and people, while textual or narration schemata are important for media content, as it is based on storytelling, so it includes identification of actors, events and consequences of those events (DeFleur and DeFleur). These two theories provide an interesting perspective on the issue of social networks’ usage, and for this reason they have been chosen for the analysis of Facebook as a form of communication.
Facebook is one of the most visited websites on the web that was founded in 2004 by Marc Zuckerberg, and since then, it has become the most popular social network site that connects people around the world. However, it is not only a place for socialization, but a virtual reality that channels great loads of information about people, places and events. Photo and video sharing, the news networks, companies’ representation online and profiles that has unofficially become the part of people’s CV, as the example of their media representation. It is an instrument to build and present one’s identity, an open platform for discussion and self-expression. It promotes diverse ideas and allows sharing anything with the world within the second. Its multiple uses allow applying the uses and gratifications to study the motivations and consequences of the gratifications, as well as the schema theory to study the way Facebook users perceive the information that is channeled on the website.
Facebook in terms of the Uses and Gratifications Theory
The interactive user interface of the website gives the audience a variety of options to filter the media messages and information according to their needs. The primary use of Facebook is social interaction, as it is social network website. This social interaction includes interpersonal communication with the people the users know from real life and with the acquaintances directly from the network. For example, Raacke and Bonds-Raacke have found that 96% of Facebook users communicate with their old friends on the website, 91.1% nurtures current relationships and 56.4% of users searches new friendships there (171). However, the information-sharing capacities of the website and the possibility of anonymity also attract those who search entertainment and escapism, as the audience receives the instruments for social and emotional release. In this realm, the voyeurism and exhibitionism are also important motivations of the users and at the same time the drive of the network (Bumgarner). Voyeurism allows certain degree of escapism and social control, while exhibitionism of one’s identity and life is self-expression that brings gratification of social acceptance and recognition. Facebook allows creating the image the person desires to expose to satisfy certain social or psychological needs. At the same time, it helps finding role models to follow and build one’s own image both online and in the reality. The users also use Facebook for information-seeking purposes, as the website allows adjusting the information flow to the needs of the user, limiting some sources of information or giving preference to the others, so it may also satisfy educational and information needs. Facebook is a perfect example of the uses and gratifications theory’s topicality, as it is created to be audience-centered, while the user is to decide on the content and purposes of the website usage that define gratifications of needs, as well as social and psychological consequences.
Facebook users in terms of the Schema Theory
Every Facebook user has generic mental structures concerning people, behaviors and scripts that can be encountered online. These schemata define the way the user approaches the process of interaction with the website in terms of interpersonal communication and media content. Specifically, there are certain ways that are considered to be appropriate behavior in communication, so when these expectations about the scripts are not met, both external and internal conflicts between existing schemata and new piece of information appear. The virtual reality is simplified by the Facebook users to avoid ambiguity and achieve social recognition in the certain group. This way, the schemata are particularly useful, as people recognize certain generic characteristics of the group and adjust their own identity presentation to the purpose of acceptance.
The schemata are not only used to recognize abnormal behavior or follow the others’ expectations, but also they define the way the users perceive the other people online. The research has shown that as the profiles of users have a lot of personal information, the perception of person’s identity largely depends on schemata. What is more, the schemata in these cases is so strong that the participants of the experiment “felt confident giving detailed descriptions of strangers’ personalities based on only a few minutes of viewing their profiles” (Farquhar). However, this function of schema often leads to negative stereotypes based on gender, age and race. Such stereotypes serve as obstacles to objective evaluation of reality, as it is often based on schema-inconsistent information or connected with partial retrieval from long-lasting memory. Therefore, the schemata theory shows that Facebook users largely depend on information processing of generic structures in their activity on the website with their own expectations of the experience and specific interpretation of identities.
Conclusion
The uses and gratifications theory application shows that Facebook as a social network website serves as a platform to satisfy the audience various needs, such as social interaction, entertainment and escapism, education and knowledge search, self-expression and the others. These motivations are particularly important, as they define the way the audience uses the website and what gratifications in form of content, recognition and acceptance. These needs and effects define the behavior of a person on Facebook, while the mental processes of perception of the content and other users may be explained with the help of the schema theory. The theory shows that cognitive generic structures define the behavior and attitudes of person on the Facebook, as with the help of schemas a person forms opinions and evaluate virtual reality of the website. Two approaches allow seeing the Facebook from the perspective of communication theory, as a multifaceted channel of information.
Works Cited
Bumgarner, Brett A. "You have been poked: Exploring the uses and gratifications of Facebook among emerging adults." First Monday 12.11 (2007). Web.
DeFleur, Melvin L., and Margaret H. DeFleur. Mass communication theories: Explaining origins, processes, and effects. Routledge, 2016. Web.
Farquhar, Lee. "Performing and interpreting identity through Facebook imagery." Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies (2012). Web.
Raacke, John, and Jennifer Bonds-Raacke. "MySpace and Facebook: Applying the uses and gratifications theory to exploring friend-networking sites." Cyberpsychology & Behavior 11.2 (2008): 169-174. Web.
Ruggiero, Thomas E. "Uses and gratifications theory in the 21st century." Mass Communication & Society 3.1 (2000): 3-37. Web.
