A Debate of the

Social Theory of the

Media Audience

19.March.2009 @ SIM LT 1.03

Guest Judge: Sunny Goh
 Profile: Herbert Blumer
• Blumer was a scholar who
demanded empirical reasoning.

• Social scientists are indebted

to him for studying some of
the shortcomings of
quantitative research.
• Blumer argues that human
social life is a continual process
of individual and collective
 Definitions

 Collective Behaviour

Social processes and events which do not reflect

existing social structure (laws, conventions, and
institutions), but which emerge in a "spontaneous"
way.
 Mass Media

Most often, the audience is conceptualized as a

large, loosely connected mass on the receiving end
of the media.
 Let the debate
begin….
Pro Against
Herbert Herbert
Blumer Blumer
 Characteristic #1
‘Media audience come from
all walks of life’
 #1 All walks of life

Pro-Blumer
• People of different demographics are engaged in or
subscribed to the same media.
• Audience may include a 30 year old female doctor and a
50 year old male ‘karang guni’ man.
• Different social status, vocations, cultural attainments,
wealth.
 #1 All walks of life

What do these people have in common

 #1 All walks of life
Example: Soccer
• People of all ages,
race, religion etc are
fans of the sport
 #1 All walks of life
Example: Facebook

Other examples:

dailies (newspapers), audience of television programmes,

radio, Youtube
 #1 All walks of life

Against-Blumer

• Introduction of specialised groups.

• Catered to particular groups of audience.
• These audience generally have similar demographics
or psychographics.
 #1 All walks of life

Example
Pay-to-watch television channels – Asian Food
Channel (AFC), E! Entertainment.
 #1 All walks of life

Example: Elle Magazine

Demographics
• Over 4.8 million
Total Audience ……… 5,258,000
readers.
89% Women …......… 4,684,000
• Women between the
Median Age .............. 33.1
Age 18-34 .............. 54.3% ages of 18 and 49.
Age 25-49 .............. 55.8%

Median HHI .............. $71.073

HHI $75,000+ .......... 47.7%

Any College ................ 67.9%

Employed ................... 75.3%
Single ......................... 60.8%
Characteristic #2

‘Media audience are

anonymous’
 #2 Anonymous group

Pro-Blumer

• Media audience comprise of a group who do not know

each other.

• They are unique individuals.

 #2 Anonymous group
Example: Mass Media Audience
• Audience do not
participate as a group but
as individuals.

• Newspaper, television
programmes, radio,
Youtube.
#2 Anonymous group
Example: Pornography
• A large-based audience
who are anonymous to
each other.

• Content providers offer

their services based on the
anonymity of the audience.
 #2 Anonymous group

Against-Blumer

• New media platform where even strangers become

‘friends’ and where friends create ‘groups’.
#2 Anonymous group
Example: Facebook, MSN
• Only people who know
each other or friends
interact with one another
and form groups.
Characteristic #3

There is often little

interaction between the
media audience
 #3 Little interaction

Pro-Blumer

•The audience rarely communicate with each other due to the fact
that they are anonymous to each other.

• The audience is also most often separated from each other and
there is no opportunity for members to interact and exchange
their experiences.
 #3 Little interaction
Example: Broadcast & Print media
• There is very little if not
no communication
between the audience.
• Even in the forum pages,
only few entries are posted
and are always screened
by the publisher before
they appear.
 #3 Little interaction
Against-Blumer

• Increasing interactivity promoted and employed by media, often

in their online platform for print and broadcast media.
• Online games and social environment.
 #3 Little interaction

Example: Online Forums

• Audience are
able to
communicate
with one another
through the
online platform of
the media to
share their
experiences.
 #3 Little interaction

Example: Online Gaming

• The development
of massive
multiplayer online
games

•Online games
provide the
possibility of
interaction with
other players.
Although physically
 Characteristic #4

The media audience is loosely

organised
 #4 Loosely organised

Pro-Blumer

• Do not take a cooperative, unified stand due to the

anonymity between audience.
•They act as independent individuals.
 #4 Loosely organised

EXAMPLE: Little Nonya

• The audience of the local
Chinese drama, ‘Little Nonya’
were unhappy with the ending of
the drama

• But they did not come together

to push the producers to change
the ending etc.
 #4 Loosely organised

Against-Blumer

• People come together, especially in the online media

platform, and stand for a cause.
• Print and broadcast media may be small and have too
many restrictions so people turn to the online platform.
 #4 Loosely organised

EXAMPLE: Petition on Blog

• Petition against
high
transportation
fares for
polytechnic
students.

• Debate first
started in the
national papers.
 #4 Loosely organised

EXAMPLE:
• StarHub reported that it will raise its pay-TV
packages, thus sparking a wave of outrage from
subscribers.

•Subscribers have even posted rallying calls on the

AsiaOne forum for consumers to band together and
cancel their subscriptions in protest of the move.

• The Consumers' Association of Singapore (Case) has

joined the calls urging StarHub to allow its cable TV
subscribers to opt out of their contracts with no
 Conclusion

• Blumer’s theory may have been written in the

1940s and thus may only be applicable to the old
media.

•Blumer’s theory may be outdated because of the

presence of the new media.

• Still relevant but theories have grey areas now

with the technological development of the media.
 The
Team
Nur Dhuha
Melissa
Sunarty
Farihah
Yew
Chong
Nasrin

Questions??