Blog #1

            The concept of receiving gratification from media I found a rather interesting one. I never thought along the lines that the reason we all are so obsessed with media is because it actually fulfills a want and need for us. I mostly assumed it was a great bandwagon we were all savvy enough to hop aboard. I couldn’t help but identify an interesting correlation between the concept of gratification from media and the ideas being discussed currently in my sociology class.

In that class we are studying the reasons people do things on a micro and macro level. In other words, why individuals do things and how they relate to the dynamics of social groups and vice versa. One could argue that the reason we utilize media so obsessively and extensively is actually due to basic human functioning. We constantly check social sites and apps. Is it fulfilling a need we were subconsciously craving when we logged on? Could it is also be due to the fact that social pressures require us to maintain a certain level of social interaction. Media has in fact made this ridiculously easy to do. We log on to Instagram to find out what an ex-boyfriend’s new girl looks like or who’s party was a success and who’s sucked. Indeed it makes perfect sense that this is gratifying because we found the information we were seeking, and rather conveniently, as well as in the form of social utility. However, it might also be true that the only reason we felt so compelled to check our Twitter feed was because as humans we have an underlying fear of being on the outskirts. Deep down we’re actually terrified of being “out of the loop”. If none of your friends had a Facebook, chances are you probably wouldn’t either. The two concepts tie together for very obvious reasons. The gratification aspect can be looked at as a “micro” concept because it deals with the reaction of a person individually. However, ultimately media is very much in the category of “macro” because it involves most of society interacting.

            To exemplify these very linear concepts, I recently broke my iPhone. I had to go five days without a cell phone. What I found though was that I lost much more than a cell phone. Yes it was inconvenient to not be able to make a phone call, but I realized I had lost so much more. Keep in mind this was the weekend before school started and I’m a transfer student. I had to actually use paper maps to get around and listen to every single syllabus lecture without an outlet for distraction. What I better understand now though is that I was missing out on a lot more than just the utilitarian aspects of my phone. I was missing out on every single social media outlet. I had no idea who was posting selfies and what was being hash tagged. I was missing out on surveilence mostly, but also personal relationships, diversion, and even personal identity. I like to think I’m somewhere inbetween a ritualized user and an instrumental user. Being human I naturally felt left out of everything. I never knew where my friends were or what they were doing. My basic humanistic drive to be a part of social functioning was kicking in as well as the lack of gratification.

            I think the concepts we are discussing in class as well as the sociological ones I’m learning create a cycle. We do things because we need to receive something for it, but what creates that need in the first place? It’s almost a headache to keep rounding the circle. What I found by not having my phone was actual relief. It was refreshing to not feel constantly controlled by a device. Yet, eventually the lack of gratification eventually won out and it ended up being nothing more than frustrating.