Mass Media Influence in Shaping People's Ideas about Society

1056 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of mass media on the individual

Mass Media Influence in Shaping People's Ideas about Society

The mass media has played a key role in shaping people’s lives. The modern society’s use of mass media including TV, radio, newspaper, as well as print media has largely influenced people’s ideas regarding themselves and the society at large. This is evident from their behavior towards themselves and their community as well as their treatment of the environment. While some experts believe that the media is to blame for most of the negative behavioral traits among the active members of society, the majority agree that the media makes people understand and develop a positive sense of association with their society within which they live, making it easy for them to identify and get their role in it.

The influence of mass media has changed the behavior of sections of society. Brown (2002) assert that the increase use of media has increasingly led youths to adopt overtly sexual behaviour. He writes;

“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.

Sexually active youths tend to be more exposure to media than any other members of society. The reason behind that is because they are in charge of their own time without much interference from their parents and burdensome responsibilities. This, combined with the fact that both implicit and explicit sexual content and crime in the mass media has grown over time predisposes youths to premarital sex (Rosengren, 2000).

The youths carve their identity using role models such as parents or anybody worthy of emulation. After national advertising for one year dubbed the...

... middle of paper ...

...om humble and non-violent to harsh and violent. It can also may lead to a person awareness of one’s environment and taking responsibility for one's actions which is what the world requires(Rosengren, 2000). Society is able to transition from the past to the future through real-time information on the present (Hiebert & Gibbons, 2000). Society therefore becomes a living organization, complete with a feedback loop provided by the media, well equipped to sense oncoming danger and learn from its mistakes in readiness for tomorrow (Preiss, 2007). However, caution needs to be put in place to prevent the youth and children from participating in actions they do not have a clue on but do them on the justifications of the actions watched over the media (Wells & Hakanen, 1997). Mass media will remain beautiful but when precautionary measures are not in place, it becomes ugly.

Show More
Related

  • Tv And Sexuality Essay

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    Arthur’s e-book offers honest facts about the influences on the instruction of sexuality on tv. She discusses how the digital revolution was one of the main agents for sparking publicized sexuality. She than discusses the different theories that people have including feminist theories. She closes her discussion with sexual citizenship in the digital age. She differentiates between the sexual citizen and the sexual consumer by explaining the issues behind the negative issues it causes.

    Read More

  • Sociology: Sexual Objectification of Women in Music Videos Today

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... The Sounds of Sex: Sex in teens’ music and music videos. Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality (p. 253)

    Read More

  • The Growing Trend of Sex and Violence in Media Today

    680 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sex is often considered to be taboo among families. Parents do not want to believe that their children are aware of it, and vice-versa. While the family is living in a state of denial, the media is embracing sexuality. It is almost impossible to go anywhere without being exposed to sexual media. Virtually all advertisements, regardless of form, use sexuality to sell their product. This ranges from beer commercials using scantily clad women to advertise their product to males, to magazines that draw our attention by writing the word “sex” in big, bold...

    Read More

  • Popular Culture and Media

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    The use of media and popular culture is a sociological phenomenon wherein the structural changes to society, which accompany the emergence of new forms of communication and accessing information, can be examined. There are many differing views regarding whether media and popular culture are necessary to the functioning of a democratic and egalitarian society or whether they actually further social inequality and inhibit political discussion or involvement. Although both interpretations are arguably valid, it can be seen that it is not popular culture and the media in and of themselves but rather how they are consumed by the public that determine how these mediums influence individuals and by extension the wider society.

    Read More

  • Rape Culture Rape

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    “…in the absence of comprehensive sex and sexuality education…adolescents are largely getting their sex education and socialization through media—and the higher their ‘sexual media diet,’ the earlier their sexual experimentation begins.” (Olfman 10) The vast lack of acknowledgment that the media controls childhood sexualization is astounding. As Dr. Sharna Olfman explains “Media can be viewed then as both a reflection and a shaper of society.” In the patriarchal society U.S. citizens live in, there seems to be a massive blindspot where there should healthy sexuality education. A direct result of this blindspot is the prevalent acceptance of rape as an inevitable, inextricable part of society. Men and women are both dangerously,

    Read More

  • The Effect of Sex in the Media

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sexual content is shown to teens much too often on tv. The media is becoming more explicit with sex on tv (“Sexuality, Contraception, a...

    Read More

  • How Rock and Roll Changed America

    1919 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ers, Kim. Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.

    Read More

  • Adolescence Sexual Development

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brown, J. D., Steele, J. R., & Walsh-Childers, K. (2002). SEXUAL TEENS, SEXUAL MEDIA: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. New Jersey: LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS.

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of Sexuality in the Media

    1814 Words  | 4 Pages

    The media is a large part of our everyday lives; everywhere we go we can find a source of media. It influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviours every day as it is a huge influence in today’s society. Society heavily relies on the media to show them what is in the norm and what is going on in the world. The media also serves as another way to display the normative of the society. Sexuality is a big part in the media and what is appropriate sexuality. The media negatively affects the people who do not fit society’s ideal normative. This includes people with a sexuality that is not the normative of heterosexuality. In the media, these people of other sexualities are excluded and made to feel they do not fit into society. My pyramid shows how society classifies people by their sexuality in the media. This involves highlighting the normative sexuality and excluded any other sexuality from the mainstream media.

    Read More

  • Sexuality in TV SHOWS

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.

    Read More

  • Scopophilia

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    The media has changed significantly over the past decades. Technology has modified our abilities to expand our communication network, and it allows companies to spread their commercials over many different continents. Research done by Roberts (1993) shows that adolescent and children are often very influenced by media that involves sexual or violent conduct. This research is based on media involving children and adolescents, however this does not eliminate the effect media has on adults (Singer & Singer, 2001, p. 269).

    Read More

  • Sexually Explicit Advertising is Detrimental to Society

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “The Impact of Media on Adolescents' Sexual Behavior.” 10 June 1998. Online. http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-98-079.html 19 March 2001.

    Read More

  • Media Influence Upon Modern Society

    2715 Words  | 6 Pages

    There is an association between the development of mass media and social change, although the degree and direction of this association is still debated upon even after years of study into media influence. Many of the consequences, either detrimental or beneficial, which have been attributed to the mass media, are almost undoubtedly due to other tendencies within society. Few sociologists would refute the importance of the mass media, and mass communications as a whole, as being a major factor in the construction and circulation of social understanding and social imagery in modern societies. Therefore it is argued that the mass media is used as “an instrument”, both more powerful and more flexible than anything in previous existence, for influencing people into certain modes of belief and understanding within society.

    Read More

  • Negative Influences of Media on Society

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    The media is everywhere and takes up a great deal of people’s everyday lives. People depend on the media to provide them with information that would otherwise be hard to get. The people of society also use the media to communicate with friends, family, and people from all around the world. Also, the media serves as a means for entertainment. Businesses use the media as a way to advertise their products. The media affects society in many different ways; such as, businesses use the media to promote their products, the media effects communication, and the media affects body image and behavior of people in society.

    Read More

  • Impact of the Media on Society

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.

    Read More

More about Mass Media Influence in Shaping People's Ideas about Society

Open Document