This presentation discusses two communication theories - Knowledge Gap (Tichenor, Donohue & Olien, 1970) and Modernization Theory (Marks, 2014). We apply these theories through an examination of contemporary uses of social media across the globe. In India, the rise of the internet has led to the rise of "semi-arranged marriages" (Jejeebhoy et al., 2013) and a growing dating culture. In Africa, we examine how young people use social media to fulfill information needs (GeoPoll Rapid Survey, February 2017). With respect to the Knowledge Gap , we look at if education and social standing really do affect political awareness and activism, and if social media can actually help bridge socio-economic gap. 

1. Communication Theories
Modernization Theory
Knowledge Gap Theory
COM 600: Social Media Theory & Practice
February 9th, 2018
Julianna Whiteway, Alyssa Lobo, Kohinur Khynum & Eveny Parker

2. Modernization Theory
“as societies develop, they become more open and more achievement
oriented; and what people do and think are less tied to their socioeconomic
background, social position, and other ascribed characteristics”
- (Marks, 2014)
.
1. Diffusion of Western lifestyle (1950s - 60s)
Modernization is due to a superior of Western, individualist culture
2. Critique of Western modernization (1970s - 80s)
Previous view is the result of Western cultural and economic imperialism or dominance
3. Late/high/postmodernity (1990s onwards)
Contradictions & consequences of modernity

3. Marriage & Dating in India
• Matrimonial Sites:
• Shaadi.com, simplymarry.com,
• “Semi-arranged marriages” - (Jejeebhoy et al.,
2013)
• Kin based to Global/national networks
• Growth of internet, proliferation of cell phones
• Compatibility over other parameters - (Harris,
2015)
• Dating:
• Tinder, Woo, TrulyMadly
• Tinder’s fastest
growing market in Asia - (Chaturvedi, 2016)
• Changed the tone of matrimonial websites
(Tandon, 2017)
• Local apps that cater to India (Russell, 2015)
Image: Techcrunch, March 2015
Image: Askmen.com, Shaadi.com Review

4. Media Consumption Among African Millennials
GeoPoll Survey done among youth in five Sub-Sahara
African countries between ages 18-35
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria
(GeoPoll Rapid Survey, February, 2017)
Africa has highest youth population in world with 200
million people, aged 15-24.
Increased dependency on technology and mobile first
approach
Even with lack of access to smartphones and reliable
internet, level of use and influence reached a major
milestone in last 5 years.
* Use mostly mobile data for internet access

5. Rise of Social
Media
60% of African millennials use social media as
primary source of information
35% said they are always on their phone
Video streaming services still low- Netflix is
most popular
WhatsApp (56%) and Facebook (31%) most
important social media platforms
They download social networking apps most,
with gaming, instant messaging, banking,
education/health & fitness apps following
(GeoPoll Rapid Survey, February 2017)

6. Knowledge Gap
“As the infusion of mass media information into a social system increases, segments of
the population with higher socioeconomic status tend to acquire this information at a
faster rate than the lower status segments, so that the gap in knowledge between these
segments tend to increase rather than decrease.” - (Tichenor, Donohue & Olien, 1970)
● Reading and comprehension skills
● Prior exposure to info (i.e. background knowledge)
● Social contact (reference groups, interaction)
● Selective exposure, acceptance & retention
● Mass media (Print media) dies out lacking repetition
Too Big To Fail

8. People have easy
access to
information these
days but
sometimes they
react without
verifying the
information
Ramu Violence 2012
Photo:CNN
- The Daily Show, August 19, 2018

9. Things to consider...
● People from higher socioeconomic status not necessarily
information rich. (Trump is high SES but…)
● Social climate is changing and lower SES segments are
mobilizing. (Can social media bridge gap?)
○ #Blacklivesmatter
○ #Womensmarch
○ #Lovewins
○ Influx of minorities in education
○ Indie artists bypassing record labels
○ Arab Spring
○ Shahbagh Movement
● Internet provides access
○ Increasing number of social media users and advent
of cheap smartphones made information more
accessible
● Threshold of diminishing returns. What if the higher
segment reaches it before the lower segment? - bbcnews, January 25, 2016

10. References
Alias FBC [aliais_fcb]. (2018, Febreuary). Lying Trump @theRealDonaldTrump yuge failure again poop lil Donnie Dotard worse fake president ever. [Quote Tweet]. Retrieved from
https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=alias_fcb.
bbcnews. (2016, January 25). 25 JAN: Five years ago today, mass protests began in Cairo which brought down Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. We look back at events since the revolution began, in the #ArabSpring of
2011. Watch more: bbc.in/Jan25 #Egypt #Jan25 #EgyptianRevolution #Tahrir #MohammedMorsi. [Instagram video]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BA9krtGOj_x/?tagged=arabspring.
bitcoin. (2015, August 13). Somebody contacted me asking to sell my account…[Instagram post]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/6U2GlKyosp/?taken-by=bitcoin
Chaturvedi, A. (2016). India is the largest market for Tinder in Asia: Taru Kapoor, head, India, Tinder. The Economic Times. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from
https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=D156AB6274384C15B125990408B92748&CID=31B7AAAB25AB62F32AF1A124240463FD&rd=1&h=Hl4R92OIrGNsaw1nv-ObTQTulWcK04KqJPODTqL5Bnw&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2feconomicti
mes.indiatimes.com%2fopinion%2finterviews%2findia-is-the-largest-market-for-tinder-in-asia-taru-kapoor-head-india-tinder%2farticleshow%2f51840649.cms&p=DevEx,5069.1
Harris, G. (2015). Websites in India Put a Bit of Choice Into Arranged Marriages. Nytimes.com. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/india-arranged-marriages-matrimonial-websites.html#
Jejeebhoy, S., Santhya, K., Acharya, R., & Prakash, R. (2013). Marriage-related Decision-making and Young Women’s Marital Relations and Agency. Asian Population Studies, 9(1), 28-49.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441730.2012.736699
Lld, G. [Garnell]. 2018, January 26. Who’s doing rides?? I need one ASAP…[Facebook status update]. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/DonnieLoong?ref=br_rs
Marks, G. (2014). Modernization theory. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of educational theory and philosophy (Vol. 1, pp. 528-530). Thousand Oaks,, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: 10.4135/9781483346229.n221
Mass Media I Knowledge Gap. Retrieved from https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Mass%20Media/knowledge_gap/
Media, Culture and Society I Modernization Theory. Retrieved from https://www.utwente.nl/en/bms/communication-theories/sorted-by-cluster/Media%2C%20Culture%20and%20Society/Modernization%20Theory/
Tandon, S. (2017). India’s matrimonial websites are trying to keep up in the age of Tinder. Scroll.in. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from
https://scroll.in/article/831770/indias-matrimonial-websites-are-trying-to-keep-up-in-the-age-of-tinder
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. (2016, August 19). Putting Donal Trump Supports Through and Ideology Test: The Daily Show. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Zdx97A63s
Theos [_zensei]. (2018, February 4th). This why we not f*ckin wit you @jtimberlake. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/_zensei/status/960317486863396865
Tichenor, P., Donohue, G., & Olien, C. (1970). Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 34(2), 159-170. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2747414
Russell, J. (2015). TrulyMadly Is A Tinder-Style Dating App That’s Built For India. TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 February 2018, from https://techcrunch.com/2015/03/02/trulymadly/
Wangari, Njeri (2017, February). African Millennials; Mobile Usage and Media Consumption. GeoPoll. Retrieved 27 February, 2017, from https://blog.geopoll.com/african-millennials-mobile-usage-and-media-consumption