The Two Step Flow Theory

The Two Step Flow Model was developed from the hypodermic needle theory which sees the media as a direct and powerful influence.

The diagram which I have included demonstrates the basic structure of the model. Opinion leaders (who are usually of high status or some kind of influential person) pass on information from the mass media through word of mouth. The audience are assumed to be active and are seen as part of society, they are more likely to consume a media product if it's recommended by a friend or someone close to them. A prime example of this is through the social networking site, Twitter. Popular news stories often find their way to the audience via Twitter and other similar sites as people often talk about issues and events happening around them in society today. 

For example, the recent death of Fast and Furious star, Paul Walker. As he was a popular actor amongst many young people within my target audience, individuals express their sadness about his death through twitter.

This is relevant to my work as I could spread the word about my new music video through word of mouth, I will inform influential opinion leaders of this so they will go on to reccomend my video to individuals within my target audience. I could place my ancillary texts on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about my new music video.

The theory originated from the 1940 presidental election campaign. Lazarsfield et al carried out their first full scale investigation of the effects of political mass communication, their findings were published in 1944 in the book 'The People's Choice'.
Lazarsfield concluded that only 5% of people changed their vote as a result of media messages. When the audience were exposed to election broadcasts this turned out to be a poor prediction of their voting behaviour. He also concluded that we are more likely to consume something reccommended by someone we know or share a close personal relationship with.

Another example of this which is relevant to my work is the streaming site, Spotify. Tracks that an individual's Facebook friends are listening to appear on their news feed. A link accompanies this post which gives the individual the option to listen to the song. Due to the fact their friends are listening to a certain track they are more likely to want to listen to it out of curiosity and because their friend likes it.







Furthermore, personal interaction is more influential than the mass media as the receiver can be more selective when choosing which media they wish to consume. In a conversation where the speakers are face-to-face the distance between the two speakers is less than in mass communication. The speaker can also receive direct feedback from their partner.