The Two-Step Media Consumption Dance

There’s nothing more jarring than looking at someone else’s social media feed. It’s like entering a whole new world. The images, aesthetics, and layout look vaguely familiar, but something is off. Nothing seems to make sense. 

I remember this experience from when I shared a computer with my family, but I was recently struck by it again when I started a new job. My work duties include social media management for an agriculture company. When I first logged into the company’s accounts, I was struck by the feed content. It was an odd reminder of how fragmented our media consumption has become, and how reliant I had become on my own cultivated media environment.

There are so many voices telling us about the news today, and only a sliver of those voices are journalists. These opinion leaders/influencers/random folks on the internet are all filtering the news through their lenses and sharing their opinions with the ether. This reflects the Two-Step Flow Theory which contends that news is consumed and critiqued by these opinion leaders who share their interpretations with others in their ideological sphere.

 

Looking at this theory, we can see why these different news realities exist. The message’s journey from mass media to general audience looks like a spider web when illustrated. People can pick and choose news outlets, and/or pick an influencer to decode how they should feel about the news. As these tentacles stretch further away from each other, it is easy to see why these different experiences exist.

 

I’m a sucker for a good podcast. It’s perfect for passive entertainment and information. Yes, there shows that feature straight-ahead news, but what’s the fun in that? I’d rather listen to an entertainer decipher the new for me. I don’t have hours to stew over the details of a supreme court decision or the intricacies of an NBA playoffs series. I want the entertainment. I want someone I trust to distill it for me and hand me clever talking points. It’s a bit sad to admit, but that’s the reality.

In that way, the Two-Step Theory strongly reflects how I consume media. But are two steps a sufficient way to look at it? Today’s environment allows for easy access to one-step, two-step, and multi-step consumption. Even as I consume content from opinion leaders, I occasionally pass it on to others. One could even argue the whole process is cyclical with opinion leaders and general audience members dictating the conversation and encouraging traditional news outlets to chase the narrative.