This essay was created by junior year of college for COM319: Communication
Theory. This class reviewed the different communication theories, such as agenda-setting and
communication privacy theory. This class was a seminar class, which was based on
discussion and previous readings. This selection was created as a final paper that combined
multiple theories into one paper about Miley Cyrus’s VMA performance.
This artifact demonstrates that I met the goal, “…. demonstrate an understanding of
their theories and principles of human communication that will facilitate their professional
and personal effectiveness” by showing how I can apply multiple theories to real world
scenarios. Connecting the elaboration likelihood, cultivation, and uses & gratification theory
shows how each can intertwine and become a great description of a real-world application. In
this specific paper I show how each of these theories can affect the way Miley Cyrus is
perceived in society today. This ability to synthesize multiple theories shows that I
understand and can apply these theories in an effective manner. This can be utilized while
watching other shows, such as, Criminal Minds. An example of this can be shown while
watching this show about murder, rape, and other horrible things there are two ways to go
about watching and understanding. If you look at elaboration likelihood model you can take
the peripheral route and watch but not understand. Or, watch and not utilize this show as a
learning tool to become safer. If you watch the show using the central route, you can learn
how to be safer, how to avoid being a target for these situations, and how watching for little
things and subtitle changes can make you a more safe and effective person in extreme
situations. Although, if you utilize the cultivation theory while talking with those who watch
Criminal Minds, you can see why they may feel bad things happen all the time and to
everyone and may have an over exaggerated fear of the unknown and bad situations.
Utilizing theories can be used while watching TV and real world situations.
This paper could be done again in a variety of ways. If I were to redo this paper I
would try other theories out on this specific scenario. Working with agenda setting theory
instead of uses & gratification, or communication privacy theory instead of cultivation theory
to help explain the way the performance shaped society’s views and brought about a new
type of culture and understanding. This ability to apply theories to understand the way
society and individual communication is shaped has become a major part of how I interpret
my life and those around me. While watching interactions of others in a professional and
personal situation, I can see how the theories interlace and the interactions could be
enhanced.
In the future I can use this ability to improve my position in a workplace.
Understanding how and why a person communicates will bring cohesion and a sense of
teamwork to a workplace. The ability to abstractly think about the situations around me will
bring success when applying to the workforce and while looking to extend upward. I
commonly use this in practice while watching the way teachers interact, how parents interact,
and how television characters interact. For example, when parents set their children down in
front of the TV as their babysitter or source of entertainment, cultivation theory can show
how a child or teen may feel that certain shows, like Teen Mom may be a more common way
to go through teen-hood, or those who watch the Simpson’s interact may feel that that is the
way families should interact. These same principles can be use in a workplace.
Understanding that some people will go through life using their peripheral route over their
central route while in meetings or doing their work is an important thing to understand so that
you can effectively talk and work with those involved in their specific routes.