1) Cognition

2) Diversion

3) Social Utility

4) Withdrawal

1) Cognition

This could be current events or simply general knowledge.

This ties into the Surveillance and Interpretation role of Mass Media.

"The number of people who go 'online' for news or anything else has now stabilized, confirming something we first saw last year. In all, about 92 million people now go online for news, according to one leading survey.

How is it possible that the online audience has already reached a plateau, even as high-speed connections are spreading? The spread of new mobile digital equipment may be part of the answer. The concept of going online itself may now be too limited.

And online is the best that it gets. In 2006, by the traditional yardsticks, the audience numbers dropped for more media than we have seen before. Even public radio, which had seen its audience explode over the last decade, appears to have flattened out. The audience for alternative weekly newspapers, recently a growth area, now appears to be contracting."

Click here to read a brief excerpt from "The State of the News Media, 2007."

2) Diversion

1) Stimulation
We can't cope with boredom

2) Relaxation
Coping with sensory overload

3) Emotional Release
People feel better after a good scream or a good cry

Diversion is an example of the Entertainment Role of Mass Media.

Often, several uses are combined.

"Cravings for "authenticity" and "fulfillment" are a hot topic. Words like "spirituality" and "mean-ingful" get heavy use. And praise abounds for a firsthand narrative by a woman who recently rediscovered the joy of prayer.

If this sounds like a convention of New Age religious writers — held at a cabin in the woods or a commune in the desert — think again.

The setting is a trendy downtown Manhattan restaurant. The participants, perched confidently on tall stools and collectively projecting an air of understated chic, are editors at high-profile mass-market women's magazines.

Click here to read "What women want - to read."