Human Communication Theory - Essay Example

Name: Coursework: Studies about how new media platforms such as blogs and social networks are used by the public and how it changes the mass communication process are growing. As new media platforms emerge, finding out how the public use of such will affect the intended audience, and how the functions of, and responses to such should be understood by mass communication practitioners should not be dismissed. However, using communication principles that are outside the locus of a particular field, such as Public Relations, are very rarely addressed. To help us decipher issues about how we may be able to understand these concerns fully well, it will be of help that we look into communication theories that we can relate to the practice of Public Relations, namely the User-and-Gratification and Agenda-Setting approaches. Use and Gratification Approach The uses-and-gratification model explores the ways how people use media to meet their needs to be gratified (Katz & Blumler 1973 cited by Littlejohn & Foss 1999). Since it tries to find out how individual drive for the public’s use of media affect the process of mass communication, this implies that one should expect diversity and individual differences of the use by audience of media and the transmitted message. Public Relations, however is concerned about generating public understanding and fostering of goodwill for an organization. This means that its role entails making people familiar with the product or services of the organization, and thereby help in achieving the ultimate goals of the same. It is in this regard that practitioners are often faced with the concern of understanding how individuals are impacted by the messages transmitted and produced by organizations. Uses-and-gratification perspective may be considered outside the scope of the practice of PR. However, its approach in dissecting how the audience consume messages can be of great help to practitioners of PR in understanding the ways the messages to be created should be fashioned to appeal and be absorbed by these publics even with the use of varying media platforms. By examining this model how an individual reacts to media content, it should be expected that practitioners should not dwell on emphasizing uniform, powerful effects on a wide audience. Some studies assumed how people would react and process messages transmitted. Thus, practitioners should be concerned about how the intended public will learn from these mass communication platforms that will be utilized for campaign efforts. You will also be concerned in finding out the consequences of these mass medium. As a sample case to find out the relevance of the uses-and-gratification model in Public Relations, we will study the amount of time that people spent online to use these new media to receive the messages created. As the use of social media arises, the shift in the public’s use of media is evident. With this study, the focus will be to find out whether or not the time spent on new media or online media diminishes other activities or priorities of people such as social interactions. Given this grim scenario, it can be surmised that online usage by the public may spread and widen the number of people who are socially isolated. This is a study that needs to be taken seriously as the consequences of such possibility are profound. This writer is aware that the scientific approach does not permit researchers to make any generalizations about the behavior online of our controlled group of active Internet users from just one internet user. The active internet users between the age bracket of 16-54 will be considered for the study’s sample. To introduce valid points backed by evidences, a formal study with a random-sample survey of the internet users should be conducted. The survey will be hosted and scripted on an online host via a research system online. To facilitate ease of use, surveys online should sport self completion features and the data collection will use quantitative approach. The market to use is representative of the 16-54 active Internet users. These are people who use or utilize the internet or new media on a daily, or every other day basis. At least 5,000 internet user in a particular location should be interviewed or surveyed. The amount of time people spent on the use of Internet, can lend ample insights on how the publics may be treated or considered in the design by Public Relations practitioners of collaterals and resources to foster the good relationship between an organization and its target publics. This study will also help the relationship on why people stay connected or online with the factors that gratifies audience. Action-Assembly Approach As a communication theory, the action-assembly theory contemplates a process that requires the ability to retrieve and organize actions necessary or demanded for an efficient and quick action. This means that this theory’s interest is in finding out what the public go through to develop or make actions. Experts said that action-assembly perspective’s main goal is to find out how thoughts by the public are transformed into action. As Public Relations practitioners, whose concern is making sure that the public understood or absorb the message created and was intended for them to either change or make decisions, the action-assembly model can be of great use. How then can this model become relevant in the practice of PR then? In preparing or delivering speech before an audience, the PR writer develops the speech material, whereby such model can be used to aid him in the process of researching, writing and then visualizing (use of content and procedural knowledge) how he intend the message to be perceived, received or absorbed by the intended audience. Then also, such theory can be used in examining the emerging trend among people to use new online media for one’s political agenda (e.g., campaign communications). Researchers can highlight the shift in campaign communication platforms. By this account, PR practitioners can be guided when potential effects of new media use, benefits and risks, and opportunities are determined to help improve the public’s access to information and become party to the vibrant growth of political processes. Compared with the traditional public communications for election campaigns, the new social media platform can facilitate two-way communications and possibly, engagement since users or visitors of a particular media can freely comment, post a link or direct his questions and contribute to the discussions to the running candidate with an online presence or blog. The user in such platform do not only act as passive audience but can be actively involved in the discourses online. In this context, this study informs ongoing discussion of Greene’s action-assembly model in which the PR strategy should be assembled so as to evoke or incite action from the public whom they intended to receive the message. Public Relations practitioners should note how it can properly or effectively transform the use of new media, combined with the message or content, into agent of changing the public’s perception, awareness or knowledge about certain issue or political agenda. Hence, this model shares that in any action that will be executed or done, the associated behaviors from appropriate procedural records must first be assembled (Greene 1993, cited by Littlejohn & Foss, 1999, p. 123). At a professional level, this proposed research may be able to provide empirical information to the political aspirants, his officers and staff regarding the kind of communication being used and potential effectiveness. Such activity will be highly interesting to the political groups, staff and representatives such as spokesperson, including practitioners in Public Relations and the mass media. This proposed research may help encourage future researches in the studies about public communication, media, arts and production, social inquiry and culture and politics. Moreover, this research may help further enhance studies on new media for political agenda setting, communication and sociology. This research will seek to obtain quantitative data on the frequency and type of new media used by the different political groups in their political and electoral agenda for a particular election period in one democratic country. This will have to be supported by the qualitative analysis of contents of new media to determine the range of strategies, viewpoints expressed by political parties, candidates, and the level of interactivity and participatory engagement attempted or achieved. In sum, the use of communication models such as uses-gratification and action-assembly approaches in our study and practice of Public Relations can reveal a lot about how the mass communication process operates. It will not matter much whether models used are outside the locus of the field of Public Relations, however, what matters is how such models should be utilized by practitioners in its ways of using media platforms, such as new media, to produce and transmit responsible and effective messages that users or the intended audience will feel the need to consume or accept not because they are forced to them, but because there is democracy and honesty. References Used Littlejohn, S.W., and Foss, K. (2007). “Theories of Human Communication.” London: Wadsworth Publishing Read More