David Gauntlett's Identity Theory

David Gauntlett's Identity Theory.

•David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist, who graduated from the University of York in 1992. He specialises in the study of contemporary media audiences, and the making and sharing of digital media and the effect it has on people’s identity.

•He focuses on studying the change in experience of media because of new digital media.

•Gauntlett states that because of new media, many people who were the audience can now be their own producers thanks to websites like YouTube. This can create our own identity and even influence other peoples.

•He says that gender identity has become less constricted to previous representations. We can create our own unique identity that might not follow the stereotypical understandings of gender.

•For examples, soaps can help create a sense of collective identity. Audiences respond to soaps in a way that is rich and varied. If the current identity theories are correct, then it would prove that audience do use some media to form a sense of identity, along with other aspects of their life too.

•By thinking about their own identity, attitudes, behaviour and lifestyle in relation to those of media role models or figures, however some individuals make decisions and judgements about their own way of living. Role models are not just for people to copy, it is to help direct them in a certain path or inspire them to steer their own personal journeys through life.

•In 2002, Gauntlett said that rather than being zapped straight into peoples brains, media messages and idea about lifestyle and identity that appear in the media which help individuals think through their sense of self and modes of expression.

•Collective Identity is an individuals sense of belonging to a group that reflects their personal identity. If they participate in social activities like watching film and television they can gain a sense of belonging and identity.

• Gauntlett believes that the audience get a sense of their own identity from the media products that they consume. People might get ideas of who and how they want to be improve themselves. They also might learn a bit about themselves from the media product.
• Gauntlett also believes that older media products (so in the past) tended to portray very straightforward representations, in particular, gender. For example, men were often portrayed as strong and brave, and have to take care of their wives financially, etc. In the past, representations of women tended to show them as caring, motherly, a cook, emotional, and dependent on the man.
• Now = diverse complex representations
• Past = simple, stereotypical, binary gender representations.

Gauntlett's theory was conceived in 2002 and - while written in relation to TV soaps and the rise of digital, consumer generated media - it does not necessarily apply directly to long form television dramas.