1. Denis McQuail
Denis McQuail was a theorist who looked into why people use the media. He
found many reasons why they did and he split them into 4 main categories.
Information: This was to find out about relevant events and conditions
happening in the world, this was based around self-education and having the
need to seek information purely for general interest and natural curiosity.
Examples are found in newspapers or the news broadcasted on television.
Personal Identity: This McQuail thought was about personal values and what
people thought about certain aspects in the media. This could be that they could
relate to behaviour that has been done and looking into the media to find out
who they are as a person. Examples of this often occur in magazines and children
idolising the celebrities on the images.

2. Integration and Social interaction: This McQuail thought was about feeling social
empathy and feeling sorry about what was going on in the world. This is based
on having a substitute for real life and people may feel that the media replaces
their social life as they may have problems interacting. Examples of this are
online social network sites such as Facebook.
Entertainment: this McQuail believed to be a way of a person escaping their
problems and almost hiding from real life events. In other aspects it may be seen
as relaxing and helpful to take your mind off things that have happened you want
to forget. Examples of this are that of gaming such as playing the Xbox or
Watching films.

3. The main reason I would interact with the media using the stereotypes above
would be to find out information and seek more knowledge on what was going
on around the world we live in. I would feel part of the Interaction category as
well feeling empathy for those involved in natural disasters. In relation to other
categories McQuail looked at I think that too much of any of the medias can be
harmful to people however the entertainment aspect could be more severe.
An example of a natural disaster that has brought my curiosity about was the
horrific earthquake in Haiti that reached 7.0 on the Richter scale. These kinds of
events in the world make me feel empathy and want to know how these things
come about and how they can be seen earlier.
People may be caught up in the so-called ‘Gaming world’ and they do not see the
real world as it is anymore. They take part in this to escape what is going on
around them and it may because of illness or depression. Can Escapism come
from a video game? Yes I believe so, sometimes people get that caught up in a
game they have a tendency to do something morally wrong.
For example in America an 8-year-old Louisiana boy intentionally shot and killed
his elderly caregiver after playing a violent video game.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/25/us/louisiana-boy-kills-grandmother/

4. The main reasons I would interact with all types of the media would be to take
my mind of something that has happened in the day. A film would be a good way
to do so as it can help you relax and you may receive a good feeling about
watching it. Also when looking at magazines it can be considered that if you want
to know what your favourite band or football club has done it is a good way of
finding out what is going on it can also be a good way to take your mind of
something. Social network sites can be used when people want to interact with
their peers however do not feel they can face to face.