Like I had with “Community Media”, I really enjoyed “Use and Gratification” because it was just so relatable to my own life. As I read through the chapter I found myself mentally check marking off all of it’s main points and categorizing them as: things I recognize other people do, things that I do myself, and things that I did not even realize I did until the reading. It was quite entertaining.
The article mostly touched on things that I was already familiar with because I am a frequent user of SNS. Yes, I use SNS for entertainment, and to gather information, and to relax, and for immediacy, etc., etc. And yes, I find SNS to be very convenient because it allows me to pretty much do anything I need to do: message, chat, make announcements, share ideas, and “stalk” all on one website. haha.
And while I knew most of these things, I did find one point that caught my eye: process of gratification which is defined as the performance of the activity like creating content on ones profile. I, myself, do find it gratifying as well as enjoyable to mess around with my Facebook profile, Twitter account, and Tumblr blog. Not only is it fun to know that people are going to see what I post and exciting to wait to see if anyone replies to what I post but it’s interesting to construct how I want to present myself to the public. And that kind of relates to a point that was made by Dye at the very beginning on the reading: “new medium has created a new generation of individuals whose identities are define by their connections and the content they produce online”.
Thank God for social networking sites!
I really enjoyed this article as well, I thought it had some very interesting points. I had the same experience that you did when reading it in noting things that I do, or that people I know do when using SNS. It's strange how reading these articles can really draw attention to all of the things we do that we never realized we did before. I am not sure how much I like analyzing what I do on SNS anymore! haha:) great post though!
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I share your appreciation for SNS :)
For years, I've utilized Facebook with the intent of formulating an appealing identity. The right pictures, the right posts...actually, after doing those last few journals, I've discovered that my identity may have been a bit compromised. Even so, I agree with you that knowing others will see personal posts is gratifying. SNS can certainly be used to control one's image and e-character...if done properly with the right amount of attentiveness. Sadly, on my account, I've let inside-jokes and stupid tagged pictures compromise the character I've worked so hard to establish. Oops!
Again, solid post. I enjoyed reading your thoughts :)