IF25
Post 1: Media Impact
The affect of mass media is astonishing; one
might even go as far as saying it’s mind-blowing. Within the past decade social
media users have exploded. Mass media can be said to have a negative impact on
our society and has said to be positive in many cases. A lot of people are
lazy, don’t have the necessary funds and/or aren't interested in finding out information
on their own. From my personal experience I get bored on a regular basis and
use mass media to entertain me. Being that as it may I don’t necessarily choose
what to be entertained by. I go on websites
and watch TV shows that choose that for me.
Growing up in a time filled with
mass media keeps you up to date with worldly occurrences, but is that a good
thing? Anybody anywhere can post whatever they want on the internet which is definitely
a beneficial when regarding cries for help.
An 11 year old Yemeni girl ran away from home after being forced into a marriage
with an older man. Without the use of mass media her word wouldn't have gotten
very far. In this instance it helped get the word out and hopefully gave others
hope who are in the same situation. We hear about stories of forced marriages
in America but never hear the opinion of the individual affected by this. Her
story hit me and hopefully sunk in to other viewers.
The world of mass media changes
the way society thinks about several things. Television is one of the worst resources
because of the non-realism and how they want it to come off as real. I’m not talking about sports but
rather the shows that are forced upon us filled with violence and sexual
content. I understand that I wouldn't watch a show if it wasn't entertaining
but they change the way I think about many situations. I used to watch a lot of
TV and it imprinted a way of life that isn't possible. It got me, personally,
to have the wrong impression on a happy, constructive family. Shows are here to
entertain and hopefully get the viewer lost in the story and forget about real
life, the only problem is that they’re not
(99% of the time) a real family or real story but rather actors portraying what
we want to see. Of course that’s only one type of TV show (family comedies) but
what about the violence splashed across entire channels? For the most part they
don’t make violence look like a good thing but it makes us aware and in the
mindset that violence happens all the time. Criminal Minds for example, has a
graphic murder scene in every episode and every commercial. It’s an escape from
real life into a life that’s entertaining, but even worse than our own. Even
sexual content can leave men thinking of women as objects if their favorite
character is the typical womanizer. Smoking cigars and drinking scotch is
extremely harmful for your health, but if influential characters in your favorite
program are doing it and you have enough money, the person may think why not. And
personally I've never met a real life scotch drinking, cigar smoking
millionaire but think it “cool” from TV shows (sadly enough I don’t have enough
money to follow in their footsteps though).
Mass media has ups and downs but
it’s here, and it’s here to stay. Its replacing the need to travel and if used
correctly can make any person cultured but it can also be one of the most
demolishing weapons in the world. Assumptions can be posted and once viral is
thought to be true. All that influential kids using the internet, watching TV
and listening to the radio need to know is “don’t believe everything you see,
read or hear”.
