Implementation of Two-step Flow Theory in Modern Day

The two-step flow theory was introduced in the Era of the Scientific Perspective (1940-1950). The three theorist Lazarsfeld, Bernard and Hazel researched on the effects of media communication and found out that the impact of media is not as influential as they once believed and stated that personal communication on voting bases had a more substantial effect on the mass.

These theorists observed that the ideas that print and radio media delivered to the mass directly had a scarce effect. The importance of opinion leaders came to light when the theorists observed opinion leaders gathering information from the same media and interpreting it with their personal understanding and then delivering it to the masses. Hence, the influence of opinion leaders was understood. The effect that this flow of information had led to the establishment of the two-step flow theory.

When talking about appliance of this theory in the modern day one can safely assume that this theory is not completely void. Researchers suggest that in the internet age information is being passed in an extensive chain which consists of thousands of sources which then spread information to thousands of other sources or in simple words a global network of sources. These sources then forward their perception of knowledge to millions of people around the world. Two step flow is identified as the major limitation of this theory in modern day but the internet does not terminate the concept of this theory it merely enhances it and looks at it with a magnified view. Several examples of this can be seen throughout the Internet some of them are mentioned bellow:

·         Yahoo Answers

Yahoo Answers is one of the best examples that supports two-step flow theory. It is a platform which gives people an opportunity to ask questions and get answers on various topics from a variety of opinion leaders. People tend to trust sources that this platform provides. Hence the influence of opinion leaders is clearly seen.

·         Quora

Like Yahoo Answers, Quora also provides this opportunity. In Quora various opinion leaders get an opportunity to share their ideas and beliefs and provide knowledge according to their personal perception. People enjoy receiving knowledge from these pluralistic speakers. These speakers talk about a variety of topics namely economics, politics, social etc.   

·         Blogs

Blogs are another way opinion leaders use to convey their point of view. It establishes the flow of information from the writer to the readers. In this modern society blogs easily grabs the attention of the masses.

·         Advertisement

Advertisement producers can also be considered as opinion leaders as they influence the consumers to purchase their commodity.    

As most of the theories of mass media the theory of two-step flow will have little or no effect in the future. The creation of Internet has rendered this theory insufficient. Therefore, this theory will probably be replaced by more complex theories that will explain the complicated media of tomorrow but a part or a reference of this theory will still remain for theorists to research on.    

Answers.yahoo.com. (2017). About | Yahoo Answers. [online] Available at: https://answers.yahoo.com/info/about [Accessed 13 Feb. 2017].

Quora.com. (2017). About Quora - Quora. [online] Available at: https://www.quora.com/about [Accessed 13 Feb. 2017].

E. Dennis, E. (2008). [pdf] Available at: http://mj.unc.edu/sites/default/files/images/documents/ante/ante_two-step.pdf [Accessed 13 Feb. 2017].

Communication Theory. (2012). Two Step Flow Theory. [online] Available at: http://communicationtheory.org/two-step-flow-theory-2/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2017].

Utwente.nl. (2012). Two Step Flow Theory. [online] Available at: https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Mass%20Media/Two_Step_Flow_Theory-1/ [Accessed 13 Feb. 2017].