Impact of Mass Media on Individuals, Society, and Culture

Impact of Mass Media on Individuals, Society, and Culture

Mass media, over the years, has had a profound effect on American society, on its

culture, and on the individuals exposed to the media. Mass media is a form of socialization, having a long-term effect on each member of American society. While mass media targets the individual in short-term intervals, the overall influence on them has been established as the consumer moves from one impressionable age category to another. The long or short- term effects of mass media are separate and distinct when its role in America is evaluated. Mass media effects people differently because of varied amounts of exposure and formats.

Mass media has a socialization function in American society, in the culture, and on

individuals. Mass media has played a role of socialization in our society over the years:

Socialization is a long-term process that every human being undergoes as he or she becomes a functioning member of society. Socialization refers to the internalizing of all of the lessons from many sources concerning ways of behaving that are approved or expected by society, as individuals mature through every stage in the life cycle (DeFleur and Dennis, 582).

Mass media educates its customers on how to think and to act, as they are conditioned to what the media portrays as suitable responses and behavior to experiences in American life. This long- term process is established over the years as media influences the impressionable age groups, as they are gradually exposed to distinct messages of mass media. These distinct age consumer groups are targeted by mass media, and while the effects of mass media are short-term, the subtle impression is long-term. The effect on American s...

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...mmunity and friends have

become more concerned of their own pursuits of happiness and security. Most people perceive mass media as quite negative, cynical, and unimportant for everyday life’s survival. The media reveals the degradation of society, our government, our politicians, and our celebrities. American culture is now filled with images of drugs, violence, and sex.

Works Cited

Anderson, Charles. Personal Interview. 3 November 1996.

DeFleur, Melvin L. and Everette E. Dennis. Understanding Mass Communication. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin Company, 1996.

Denger, Stuart. Personal Interview. 3 November 1996.

Hummon, David. Geographical Reviews: Commonplaces: Community Ideology and

Identity in American Culture. Geographical Review. July 1991: 363-365.

Swidler, Ann. “Inequality and American Culture” American Behavioral Scientist March 1992:

606- 629.