The Influences of Media

Television is one of the most popular forms of media. But popularity does not necessarily mean positive. When watching TV, some tend to think of characters on television shows as role models and try to conform themselves to resemble that person so that they can be “noticed”. Some of the actions people perform could be positive, maybe comedy for example. But, at the same time, they could be taking attention away from what is really important at the time. Media on television influences some people to act out to receive satisfactory attention. One way people are inclined to contract more attention is by activities made for entertainment. An example would be Vine Videos, homemade comedies, etc. Many people can find these types of distracting videos on Youtube, Facebook, and sometimes, even on the news! One of the most recent videos that reached the news stations would be the “Worst Twerk Fail Ever”. It was an example of an “epic fail” video, set up by Jimmy Kimmel to prove his point that society has control over what gets talked about in media. Those variations of videos, along with pranks and embarrassing mess-up’s, are what people want to see on the news. Also, celebrity gossip is an incredibly popular subject nowadays. But, what news stations should truly be spending their time reporting on are the major accidents, crimes, and disabilities affecting our nation. Usually, there are stories of murders, theft, government and political issues, car accidents, etc. scrolling on the bottom of your screen while the news reporters are showing a clip of a viewer’s video pick. All of this drama and media takes away from the serious side of life and causes some of us to become absorbed into “reality” TV instead of focusing on what is important. Television is another form of entertainment that can be influential to negative acts. Television shows are awful when it comes to influencing viewers to act out. For example, South Park, Tosh.O, Family Guy, and The Cleveland Show are