The mass media has a huge influence on everyone in society. The mass media reaches large number of the public. Generally, the big influences on us come from either the newspaper, television, radio or also the internet. The main purpose of the Mass Media is to provide us with information, entertainment and advertisement. Unfortunately we do live in a society that depends on communication so we look to these sources to get our information. Media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology. Mass Media has influence the general public more then we think it has. In today society we rely on the mass media for everyday life such as things like work, education, entertainment and even for are own personal use. The use of technology improvement is making the mass media easier then ever to get to source . Most people don’t realize that the Mass Media has been built into are everyday life style. We rely on the media to get current news and facts about what is important and what we should be aware of.
Newspaper are an incredible influence tool in society, they easily turn on people emotions in favor or against an issue that is being discussed. This is because readers tend to believe everything that is written in the newspaper even though it might not be entirely true. This cause misleading information that then goes to the public which immediately influences the public to react. Therefore the newspaper can be very biased about story. Newspaper is a huge influence on society. “Media is considered to be a main piece within society that is frequently associated with the concept of social”. (Lange, 2008) This statement really agrees with the fact that Mass Media has a huge influence over our society and how they conveys what people take from the media and relate it to there own life’s.
Television is a very big influence in today time. “Of all the media distribution channels the most influential has been the television, we are constantly exposed to thousands of images of violence, advertising, sex, celebrities and much more, in fact a its known that a child is exposed to about 40,000 ads a year.” (rayuso) This statement lets you see how much television is influencing on our society. They say a picture is worth a thousands words and TVS are transmitting millions of images into views heads.
Advertising is one of the most influential items about Mass Media. The media spends billion of dollars to advertise to our society. People want to buy what they are exposed to therefore good advertising can lead to good sells. Society wants’ to buy things that we hear are good. The buyer makes decision on what we see, hear or read about a product. Consumers want to buy product they can trust so they rely on the media to help with decision making. “Advertising is no longer limited to store displays, radio and TV commercials, and newspaper ads. Some children’s' literature is developed for the primary purpose of marketing. Movies, cartoons, video games and more are also developed for the purpose of marketing additional products.” (Mulberry) Advertising affects everyone in society from your grandparents to your little siblings. This can bring both positive and negative outcomes. Young adolescents are at an age where they are very easily influenced and don’t always make the right decision. The Mass Media influences them because they want to do what they think is cool or what there favorite celebrity is doing. Media also can create an ideal image of what you are supposed to look like or how you are suppose to act. When realistically the average person doesn’t fit the media stereotype. Teenage feel as if they don’t look a certain way or act a certain way that they will be an outcast and just not fit in with the popular crowd.
Internet is also a huge media source. The internet lets you have the world at your finger tips. This is the newest form of the Mass Media. It lets you reach out to almost anything you want to find in any where in the world. The internet also lets you access other forms of mass media such as newspapers, video, and even communication to other people. “One-to-one (e-mail is the fastest growing form of one to one communication 7.3billion US e-mails per day). One-to-many (Internet newsgroups and personal Web sites include over a billion exchanges per day).” (Nikolovska , 2007) The internet is expanding right in front of us and we rely on it for many reasons. Not only because it convient but we look to the internet to help us with education, travel, medical and so much more. This is a great way for the Mass Media to influences us with information and adverstiment. Unfountely everything we find on the internet is not true or many things can be very bias. Many people fall victim to believing everything they read or watch on the internet. It is very easy to become influenced by the internet. Like all Mass Media influences there are two sides to every story so there are many positive and negative affects to.
“The influence of the Internet has caused a change in the way we communicate, learn and shop. The Internet is probably most famous for the ability to spread information, fact or fiction. We were once limited to news editors of a local paper, then to national cable news. Now anyone can search the globe, visit local papers in foreign countries, and see the views of all sides. This ease of information has also brought with it a large amount of hoaxes, money schemes, and fallacies.” (Nikolovska , 2007) The internet has so much to offer are society and it is so easy to get information on anything we are looking for.
The Mass Media also plays a role in violence. When we watch TV we see violence on Movies, TV shows and even the news. The big problem with this is that our kids are being exposed to a big range of violence. “Children today watch far more television than children did in the early days of TV. In addition, they are online where advertising is prevalent as well. The influence of advertising has permeated much of what our children do and see.” (Mulberry) Children are growing up and shaping their views and beliefs around what they are watching on TV. Even their personality values are being altered because of the Mass Media. They can become aggressive or they can loose a sense of reality and fiction on what they are watching. Video game is another huge source of the Media that is affecting these young kids. They bring guns to school and kill people and they are not even really aware of what they are doing or even there consequences.
The Mass Media also can shape our society public opinion on issues.
“For example, after the attacks of 911 the media gave a huge coverage of the event and exposed Osama guilty for the attack as they were told by the authorities. This shaped the public opinion to support the war on terrorism, the same happened with the war on Iraq. The problem is that if media received un accurate information then the public opinion supported a wrong cause, this is the power of public opinion influence.” (rayuso)
The media can wants to shape how we look at things and how we make opinions about issues. The media doesn’t always give the right information to the public they can be bias.
Overall I conclude that Mass Media does have an effect of society. For the simple fact that is become part of our daily routine. Every morning the family guy reads the newspapers to get inform with out any type of criticisms. Citizens of society spend hours and hours watching Television to get entertain, the same case with the Internet. So as becoming part of our daily life, we can say that has a unconscious effect in our habits, like the shopping habits that people have these days, if they see something on television, the Internet or the newspapers there is a high probability that they will consume it.
Reference:
rayuso, Initials. (n.d.). Mass media influence on society. Retrieved from http://hubpages.com/hub/Mass-Media-Influence-on-Society
Kulkarni, A. (2010, January 16). What is mass media. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mass-media-influence.html
Lange, A. (2008). Mass media’s influence on society. Retrieved from http://www.mightystudents.com/essay/Mass.Media.Influence.
Mulberry, Initials. (n.d.). The influence of advertising . Retrieved from http://www.squidoo.com/influence-of-advertising
Nikolovska , M. (2007, April 12). The influence of the internet on people's social and psychological realities. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Influence-Of-The-Internet-On-Peoples-Social-And-Psychological-Realities&id=524319
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