Is the Uses and Gratifications Approach Still Relevant in a Digital Society? Theoretical and Methodological Applications to Social Media

A wide range of new theories, approaches, and methodologies have been proposed as a response to the changes occurring in the digitization of content, the creation and distribution of digital artifacts (e.g., documents, images, and videos), and the increasing production and dissemination of news on the Internet. These new trends have also motivated scholars to revive traditional theories in the field of mass communication and journalism, which could aid in examining digital communication. In this editorial note, the uses and gratifications approach (U&G) is presented as a theoretical lens and empirical means for studying how audiences engage with digital media. U&G provides a unique perspective on digital media as it stresses the relevance of media in the context of everyday life, examining uses, gratifications sought and obtained, and media practices over time

Beauty as Currency

This body of work addresses the concept of physical beauty and the attendant value that we as a society place upon it. Beauty shares characteristics with other prized possessions in life. It may be traded for monetary gain, as is the case with professional models. The exchange is not always so obvious. What constitutes beauty is open to many interpretations as to why it is deemed desirable. I have observed physical characteristics which are valued as attractive, change, from one social group to another and within that same society evolve with the passage of time. Physical beauty differs from other valuable possessions in two ways. 1. Judging beauty is highly subjective. Often what is deemed attractive to one person may not be looked upon as a sign of beauty to another. 2. Physical beauty does not appreciate with time, it has a limited lifespan. The analogy to flower petals, which provide a show of color and scent to attract insects for pollination, seems appropriate. The images which comprise my thesis exhibition feature female students from the University of Mississippi Art Department. They are used as representations of physical beauty, not as personal statements about the individuals. They are serigraphed on paper and wood in small editions. Anatomy illustrations, gameboards and flowers are symbols which suggest certain qualities of physical beauty and the human interaction that is involved with the exchange of physical beauty for whatever is desired in return. Power is a common companion with beauty. It may not be coincidence that the attainment of power by women through means other than physical beauty has been difficult. I make no moral judgement on this exchange. It has been a part of life as long as civilization has endured and I suspect very little will change in the foreseeable future

The Ursinus Weekly, February 26, 1923

Girls have winning team; should be second in East • Zwing declamation contest won by David Kern and Elizabeth Mitman • Founders\u27 Day marked by giving of honorary degrees to Morris L. Clothier and signor Bertalot • First concert by chorus: visiting artists assist • Directors decide on plans for coming year • Girls\u27 mass meeting • Girls\u27 gym classes will give exhibition Saturday night • Next lecture course number will present master reader • Class basketball teams meet in terrible tilts • Spellbinders prepare for season\u27s activities • Sylvia writes charmingly of Washington Day ball • W. R. Updike celebrates his birthday with the father of his countryhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/2375/thumbnail.jp

Current, February 27, 1986

https://irl.umsl.edu/current1980s/1182/thumbnail.jp

The Ithacan, 1980-10-03

https://digitalcommons.ithaca.edu/ithacan_1980-81/1005/thumbnail.jp

Commonwealth Times 1986-10-28

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/com/1513/thumbnail.jp

Sidebar [Fall 1982]

Sidebar, Fall 1982https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/comm_newsletters/1012/thumbnail.jp

The Wellesley News (11-01-1928)

https://repository.wellesley.edu/news/1803/thumbnail.jp