CONTENT REFLECTION

Week 7

JOSHUA KISER
CALIFORNIA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
COM525
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Content Reflection Week 7

This week’s reflection takes a look at the audience level combined with a cross-cultural

perspective of the effects of media on these societal groups. Within the two videos this week we

discovered the conceptualized notion of the audience theory in relation to the Uses and

Gratification theory. The Uses and Gratifications Theory is a Mass Communication theory that

focuses on media consumers' requirements, motivations, and gratifications. According to the

notion, media consumers are not passive recipients of mass communications, but rather take an

active role in media consumption. Assuming the audience as an active participant in the

theoretical approach, the video discusses the active required to engage the audience and maintain

an effective knowledge of the impacts of mass media on an audience. Researchers have

traditionally considered the audience as active participants who search, rate, utilize, and consume

media for various reasons and goals and in various ways since the inception of Uses and

Gratifications Theory. Modern audiences consume media to meet one or more unique

requirements. (mediagabbitt, 2014)

After reviewing chapter 27 and the cultural representation from an audience perspective

coupled with persuasive acknowledgements. We can look at the global popularity of several

social media platforms, the role of "virtual social network platforms" in cross-cultural

communication has grown in importance in recent years. Scholars from psychology, neurology,

and other disciplines are drawn to study on the motivation, causes, and impacts of social media

communication across cultures. Cross-cultural communication is the exchange of information

and interpersonal contact between cultures, as well as the flow, sharing, infiltration, and transfer

of numerous cultural components around the globe. With more than half of the world's

population utilizing social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WeChat, cross-

cultural contact has grown easier and more common. As a result, cultural exchanges, collisions,
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Content Reflection Week 7
disputes, and integration among many nations, races, and countries on these platforms have

become apparent, as have linked study publications by experts from other fields. Traditionally,

professionals in cross-cultural studies separate distinct cultures depending on their borders, such

as nations, races, languages, and so on. However, as digitalization has progressed, new cultural

relationships have emerged both within and outside of geopolitical boundaries, necessitating the

development of new understanding and theories to explain the motivation, process, and

implications of cross-cultural communications in the digital era. One of the fundamental

assumptions and conclusions of this line of study is that when cultural depictions of persuasive

messages match the cultural orientations of the recipients, the persuasion effects likely to be

increased. (Oliver et al., 2020, p.422)

As we viewed; TED Talk: Siyanda Motutsiwa - How Young Africans Found a Voice on

Twitter, we were exposed the representation of cultural bias and extrapolation of the

representation of cultural impediment in the media. Siyanda Mohutsiwa speaks on how internet

messaging, particularly the Twitter style, enables young Africans to engage with each other and

exchange information throughout the continent and across national boundaries. She offers her

idea of a “social Pan-Africanism” as a strategy to stimulate worldwide creativity and

collaboration distinct from the “political Pan-Africanism” she believes is restricted to political

leaders. Siyanda Mohutsiwa says that internet messaging has permitted greater engagement and

information exchange amongst young people residing all across the continent of Africa.

(Mohutsiwa, 2016) The 140-character structure of Twitter is ideally suitable for communication

across nations and across the continent. Young people living all across the continent are now

able to exchange creative ideas and work with and learn about each other in a manner that was

not before feasible owing to financial and regulatory restraints. Mohutsiwa argues that
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Content Reflection Week 7
communication channels like Twitter allow for a “social Pan-Africanism,” or a method to discuss

not just the issues of other African nations, but also their triumphs. (Mohutsiwa, 2016)
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Content Reflection Week 7
Reference:

mediagabbitt. (2014, April 26). Uses and gratifications - audience theory. YouTube. Retrieved
October 23, 2022, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn9_0mTfT3Y 

Mohutsiwa, S. (2016). How young Africans found a voice on Twitter. Siyanda Mohutsiwa: How
young Africans found a voice on Twitter | TED Talk. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from
https://www.ted.com/talks/siyanda_mohutsiwa_how_young_africans_found_a_voice_on_t
witter 

Oliver, M. B., Raney, A. A., & Bryant, J. (2020). Media effects: Advances in theory and
research. Routledge.