Lull tries to systematise his observations by suggesting that the social uses of television can be understood along two dimensions: the structural dimension and the relational dimension. Along the structural dimension he distinguishes two particular uses: the environmental use (provision of background noise, companionship, and entertainment) and regulative (punctuation of time and activity, talk patterns). On the relational dimension he distinguishes four different social uses. The first of these is what he calls communication facilitation (experience illustration, provision of common ground and agenda for talk, etc.). The second function he refers to is that of affiliation/avoidance (physical, verbal contact, family solidarity). The third is what he calls social learning (which is the use of television for provision of role models, value transmission, all the dissemina tion of information). The fourth relational use medium which Lull identifies is that of the demonstration of competence or dominance (role enactment, role re-enforcement, gate-keeping).