The social factors and functions of media use

A heuristic model aims to organize and synthesize the substantial body of work examining the social influences that shape media selection, experiences, and effects. The Social Influences and Media Use (SIMU) model describes three broad social forces (users’ internal social needs, their social environment, and the social affordances of media) and their recursive association with media use. This article (a) brings together diverse subdisciplines interested in the social factors and functions of media use, (b) discusses the micro–macro nature of social phenomena and its potential role in future inquires, and (c) illustrates how the model might foster new developments by applying it in a specific area of study. The model may help us identify cohesive patterns (and points of divergence or uniqueness) among existing findings as well as inform future work examining these relationships across a variety of social contexts and media channels.