Lecture 1. Introduction to Media Entertainment
College 2: uses and gratifications
Lecture 3. Mood management
Lecture 4 stof
Lecture 4. Gaming, aggression, morality
College 5 Eudaimonic motivations
College 6. Storytelling
College 7. Characters on screen
College 8. Suspense
College 9. News as entertainment
College 10. Humor
Gast college 10.2 podcast
College 11 Identity and entertainment
College 12. social media/user generated content and entertainment
College 13. Fandom and Social identity in media use + morally ambiguous characters
College 14. Entertainment and identity: music as need satisfaction
,Lecture 1. Introduction to Media Entertainment
How do we define media entertainment?
Are some media, like video games and television, more central to entertainment than
others, like books and the internet?
→ No, you can non define ME by the medium.
Are specific types of content, like action movies or fantasy novels, more entertaining
than others, like documentaries and non fiction books?
→ No, you can not define ME by the content
If something made you laugh or cheer, does that mean it is more entertaining than
something that made you cry or feel afraid?
→ No, you can not define ME by the pleasantness of felt emotions.
Enjoyment
According to Anne Bartsh, emojoyment is a meta-emotion, meaning that during
media entertainment we experience many different positive and negative emotions
that we evaluate as enjoyable when we reflect on the experience.
Is entertainment constantly variable, changing based on who we are with and what
we are doing, or how we think about an experience?
→ Yes, the same content can be experienced differently depending on the
circumstances
Some parts of ME are like a mindless habit, but it also has psychological functions in
our lives.
Media entertainment definition
Media entertainment is content designed to be consumed for purposes of leisure
(rather than specifically for information gain, learning or persuasion)
Or this is: A form of playing, i.e. a form of coping with reality. An activity that is most
often characterized by different forms of pleasure, but -in certain situations- also by
unpleasant aspects. It is an intrinsically motivated action that usually leads to a
temporary change in perceived reality and that is repeated quite often by people who
are, during this process, less intellectually vivid and attentive than they could be.
,Artikel Oliver, M. B. (2009). Entertainment. In R. Nabi & M. B. Oliver (Eds.) The
Sage handbook of media processes and effects (pp. 161-177). Thousand Oaks,
CA, USA: Sage.
Almost any type of content, any medium of communication could be considered
“entertainment” in the broadest sense of the word. This chapter narrows the focus of
inquiry by conceptualizing “entertainment” as media content designed to be
consumed for purposes of leisure.
Selection and enjoyment of media entertainment
Uses and gratification, in brief, uses and gratifications of audience members as
“active” media users, with individuals choosing to consume media on the basis of
their felt needs and the degree to which the media can successfully address these
needs. There are a wide variety of needs, such as information seeking; needs
related to social connection; and needs related to social status.
Uses and gratification has been a fruitful avenue for many theorists interested
in media entertainment. At the same time this perspective has received a fair amount
of criticism. For example scholars have questioned the broad characterization of the
audience as necessarily “active”, have suggested that the theory is more descriptive
than predictive or explanatory, and have argued that U&G conceptualizations are
often only vaguely defined.
In terms of methodology, scholars have also criticized U&G’s assumption that
individuals are aware of or are willingly to articulate their motivations for media
consumption, thereby questioning the validity of the self-report measurements
typically employed.
Mood management argues that one factor influencing entertainment selection
is individuals’ tendencies to arrange their environment to manage their moods of
affective states. Insofar as this theory presumes that hedonistic concerns are
important motivations for many behaviors, individuals are predicted to select media
entertainment that is successful in prologing or intensifying positive moods, and
diminishing or terminating negative moods. Further, this theory does not assume that
individuals are necessarily aware of the motivations for their behaviors, but rather
that they act in accordance with behaviors that were successful in the past.
, College 2: uses and gratifications
What is media selection?
People don’t consume all the content that is available. They make a selection.
MS (media selection) is a goal-oriented decision process through which people
(consciously or subconsciously) select from the available mediated messages or
avoid certain mediated messages.
Human-media interaction
What determines media selection?
Is it something in the media? or is it something in the user?
Theories of understanding media selection behavior
User centered theories; what is it in the user that influences what media types s\he
consumes?
● uses and gratifications
● mood management
● habit models
● cognitive models
Media-centered theories; what is it in the medium that influences what media type
the user consumes?
● Certain features in the (new) media attract audiences
Phases of media selection
Before media use:
1. selection of media-driven activity
2. selection of a medium and a platform
3. Selection of a mediated message provided by the medium
During media use:
1. selective processing of the mediate message itself
After media use:
1. Selective remembering of the mediated message
College 2: uses and gratifications
Lecture 3. Mood management
Lecture 4 stof
Lecture 4. Gaming, aggression, morality
College 5 Eudaimonic motivations
College 6. Storytelling
College 7. Characters on screen
College 8. Suspense
College 9. News as entertainment
College 10. Humor
Gast college 10.2 podcast
College 11 Identity and entertainment
College 12. social media/user generated content and entertainment
College 13. Fandom and Social identity in media use + morally ambiguous characters
College 14. Entertainment and identity: music as need satisfaction
,Lecture 1. Introduction to Media Entertainment
How do we define media entertainment?
Are some media, like video games and television, more central to entertainment than
others, like books and the internet?
→ No, you can non define ME by the medium.
Are specific types of content, like action movies or fantasy novels, more entertaining
than others, like documentaries and non fiction books?
→ No, you can not define ME by the content
If something made you laugh or cheer, does that mean it is more entertaining than
something that made you cry or feel afraid?
→ No, you can not define ME by the pleasantness of felt emotions.
Enjoyment
According to Anne Bartsh, emojoyment is a meta-emotion, meaning that during
media entertainment we experience many different positive and negative emotions
that we evaluate as enjoyable when we reflect on the experience.
Is entertainment constantly variable, changing based on who we are with and what
we are doing, or how we think about an experience?
→ Yes, the same content can be experienced differently depending on the
circumstances
Some parts of ME are like a mindless habit, but it also has psychological functions in
our lives.
Media entertainment definition
Media entertainment is content designed to be consumed for purposes of leisure
(rather than specifically for information gain, learning or persuasion)
Or this is: A form of playing, i.e. a form of coping with reality. An activity that is most
often characterized by different forms of pleasure, but -in certain situations- also by
unpleasant aspects. It is an intrinsically motivated action that usually leads to a
temporary change in perceived reality and that is repeated quite often by people who
are, during this process, less intellectually vivid and attentive than they could be.
,Artikel Oliver, M. B. (2009). Entertainment. In R. Nabi & M. B. Oliver (Eds.) The
Sage handbook of media processes and effects (pp. 161-177). Thousand Oaks,
CA, USA: Sage.
Almost any type of content, any medium of communication could be considered
“entertainment” in the broadest sense of the word. This chapter narrows the focus of
inquiry by conceptualizing “entertainment” as media content designed to be
consumed for purposes of leisure.
Selection and enjoyment of media entertainment
Uses and gratification, in brief, uses and gratifications of audience members as
“active” media users, with individuals choosing to consume media on the basis of
their felt needs and the degree to which the media can successfully address these
needs. There are a wide variety of needs, such as information seeking; needs
related to social connection; and needs related to social status.
Uses and gratification has been a fruitful avenue for many theorists interested
in media entertainment. At the same time this perspective has received a fair amount
of criticism. For example scholars have questioned the broad characterization of the
audience as necessarily “active”, have suggested that the theory is more descriptive
than predictive or explanatory, and have argued that U&G conceptualizations are
often only vaguely defined.
In terms of methodology, scholars have also criticized U&G’s assumption that
individuals are aware of or are willingly to articulate their motivations for media
consumption, thereby questioning the validity of the self-report measurements
typically employed.
Mood management argues that one factor influencing entertainment selection
is individuals’ tendencies to arrange their environment to manage their moods of
affective states. Insofar as this theory presumes that hedonistic concerns are
important motivations for many behaviors, individuals are predicted to select media
entertainment that is successful in prologing or intensifying positive moods, and
diminishing or terminating negative moods. Further, this theory does not assume that
individuals are necessarily aware of the motivations for their behaviors, but rather
that they act in accordance with behaviors that were successful in the past.
, College 2: uses and gratifications
What is media selection?
People don’t consume all the content that is available. They make a selection.
MS (media selection) is a goal-oriented decision process through which people
(consciously or subconsciously) select from the available mediated messages or
avoid certain mediated messages.
Human-media interaction
What determines media selection?
Is it something in the media? or is it something in the user?
Theories of understanding media selection behavior
User centered theories; what is it in the user that influences what media types s\he
consumes?
● uses and gratifications
● mood management
● habit models
● cognitive models
Media-centered theories; what is it in the medium that influences what media type
the user consumes?
● Certain features in the (new) media attract audiences
Phases of media selection
Before media use:
1. selection of media-driven activity
2. selection of a medium and a platform
3. Selection of a mediated message provided by the medium
During media use:
1. selective processing of the mediate message itself
After media use:
1. Selective remembering of the mediated message
