26. Two Step Flow Theory of Communication

Background
In 1944 Paul Lazarsfeld, (1901-1976) an American Social Researcher, Bernard Berelson (1912 – 1979) and Hazel Gaudet had introduced the Two-Step Flow of Communication theory in their book called “The people’s choice: How the voter makes up his mind in a presidential campaign. New York: Columbia University Press”. Basically, at that time, common mass of people had little access to media, therefore, they heavily relied on the "buffer" between media and them. The ''buffer'' was usually a political person, having direct access to information, or a blog or a magazine or anyone wielding influence on people or an individual. The main focus of the theory were the American people whose voting preferences were based on how the "buffer" injected a certain piece of information in them.
Main Actors of the theory
 1. .Media: media transmits information to opinion leaders on a wide range of issues--society,politics,economy, religion, culture, foreign policy

2. Opinion leader: opinion leaders receive information from media and gives it various interpretations to influence minds of people. Opinion leaders interact with people to relay information. The inter-personal communication, according to the originators of the theory, plays instrumental role in coaxing people to a particular version of an event, incident, policy or law.
 3.Common people: common people generally to the man in the street who do not have direct access to media or important information. Or due to lack of interest, people do not keenly follow news on media. Therefore, they rely on opinion leaders's interpretations of a news item to make decision on whom to support in elections.

Depiction of 2step flow theory

What are the basics of this theory? 

• The theory proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets.
•  Opinion leader is not necessarily a political entity. It can be anybody i.e. a blog, pages, mother, brother.
• This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content.
• Factors such as interpersonal communication with family members, friends, and members of one’s social and professional circles turned out to be better predictors of a person’s voting behavior than that person’s media exposure.

Example: 

When Panama leaks had unearthed name of many individuals from different countries involved in money laundering and tax evasion, media tried to cash on the earthshaking revelation by broadcasting it 24/7. Common people were hardly moved by the big news. Then opinion leader came into play. This time around, opinion leaders were mostly from opposition parties in political arenas of various countries. For example, chairman Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf in Pakistan told the people there that It was really a pretty big deal to be named in the biggest leaks of the history. He gave various interpretations to the leaks to convince the people of Pakistan that all the ills in the country existed just because of the money laundering by the elites. Through his fiery rhetoric, he succeeded in making people believe that the politicians named in Panama Leaks had to be brought to justice, for it was the only way out to extricate the country from the quagmire of troubles. And the end result was that prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was brought to knees and eventually disqualified by the supreme court of Pakistan. This is how an opinion leader uses a piece of information to influence minds of people. Similarly, opinion leaders in other countries like Iceland, Ukraine and others did the same.

Criticism on this theory 

• It was formulated at a time (1944)  when there was no TV or internet. Now people themselves like to collect information, Media shapes opinion now, moreover media has a wide reach among people so can influence more people. 
• In modern age of social media, it is not easy for opinion leaders to misinterpret a certain piece of information and influence minds of people. People have become more critical. Any attempt at misrepresenting facts can harm the credibility of opinion leaders.
• Furthermore, media is considered as the fourth pillar of state owing to its deepened and expanded role. It is easily accessible to anybody particularly with the advent of social media. Therefore, to collect information, one does not need an intermediary channel.