Yelp.com (NYSE: YELP) is a customer review website founded in San Francisco in 2004. It focuses on gaining local people together so that to connect people with local business. Up to now, ‘Yelp communities have taken root in major metros across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia’ (Yelp.com, 2013) and many other countries. As a typical product of web 2.0 (ref?), Yelp has excellent interactive characters which allow users to seek information for all kinds of local serves, and at the same time to post their own reviews about a specific service after experience it. Yelp.com now have more than 40 million registered users called Yelpers from all over the world, and got a monthly average of 117 million unique visitors in Q3 2013 (Yelp.com, 2013). Here in this essay, Yelp.com, as a case study, will be analysed by two main Theories of ‘Limited Effect theory’: ‘Use and Gratification Theory’ and ‘Two-step Flow Theory’. Some personal experiences of the author as a Yelper will also be found in this essay to illustrate the theory.
Different from Hypodermic needle model (Williams, 2003:174-178) or other early opinions defining audience as a passive group who only passively consume the media’s messages without any resistance(CITE ?PPT ), ‘Limited effects paradigm’ shows the active side of audiences. ‘Limited effect paradigm’ shows that audience are not people who are the ‘passive, isolated and impressionable entities of mass society’, on the contrast, audience can be seen as individuals who ‘interpret what they saw and heard in line with their own already established beliefs’ (Williams, 2003, pp. 174-178) The arouse of ‘Limited effects theories’ is the first tim...
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References
Hicks, A., Comp, S., Horovitz, J., Hovarter, M., Miki, M. and Bevan, J. (2012). ‘Why people use Yelp. com: An exploration of uses and gratifications.’ Computers in Human Behavior, volume ??, pages ??.
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Yelp.co.uk. 2013. Swansea Restaurants, Dentists, Pubs, Beauty Salons, Doctors. [online] Available at: http://www.yelp.co.uk/swansea-swansea-gb [Accessed: 17 Nov 2013].
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Media, the plural form of medium, describes various ways in which we communicate in society. A phone call, email, radio, computer, news on TV, etc. are all forms of media. In our society today, the media plays a significantly large role in influencing society negatively, twisting one’s perspective of the truth. In author Brooke Gladstone’s, The Influencing Machine, she discusses how media is looked at as an “influencing machine,” that’s controlling the mind of its viewers. Throughout the reading, Gladstone guides her readers through perceptions of media and how it influences them to get readers to understand the truth about media and the manipulation behind it.
The companies like Google have the idea that they know what an individual likes from the information the users submit. The primary challenge, in this case, is that social media users are seen as incapable of making rational decisions about their choices. For example, on may be walking down a street during lunch hours and from nowhere, they get a notification that there is a restaurant in their surrounding that is offering a certain meal during those times. Moreover, Jacob Silverman asks the question as to why social
The hypodermic syringe model suggest that the media is alike a magic bullet and when an audience is targeted it will immediately be knocked down when they are hit. The hypodermic-syringe model also suggests that society is passive and the media “inject” their media influence into society and manipulates it. The Frankfurt school envisioned the media as a hypodermic syringe, and the contents of the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by the media without question. This model was a response to the German fascist’s use of film and radio for propaganda, and later applied to American capitalist society. The followers of the hypodermic model of Effects adopted a variant of Marxism, emphasizing the dangers of the power of capitalism, which owned and controlled new forms of media.
Though obviously people are aware of what they are listening to or watching, thoughts and assumptions can drift into their minds without even realizing it. These thoughts that drift in are extremely influential. The massive impact it can have on America's perceptions leads to generalizations, assumptions, and stigmas. Media influence is not always negative, however. In most cases, it has beneficial and positive aspects.
All in all, the three chapters of “Amusing Ourselves to Death” work together theoretically and practically about the media influence towards its audience. Neil Postman asserts the public as victims to whatever media metaphor exists. The media shapes the perception of reality and truth. And that brings one to say that cultural, political, economic, religious and moral values are influenced by the media either negatively or positively.
Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub., 1995. Print.
Traudt, Paul J. Media, Audiences, Effects: An Introduction to the study of media content and audience analysis. Pearson Education Inc.: 2005.
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
The cultivation theory suggests that “the cultivation of attitudes is based on attitudes already present in our society and that the media take those attitudes which are already present and re-present them bundled in a different packaging to their audiences” (Griffin, p.366). The Truman Show is an excellent example of the cultivation theory as it gives us an interesting insight into the effects that the media has on society. It is no secret that the media has altered our way of living. From the fears they can instill from the news we watch, to the clothes we wear, the music we listen to, the sports we watch and even our political opinions are all influenced in some way shape or form by the media.
...ld influence somebody undoubtedly. Mass media audiences are arguably on the whole not passive, and so the amount of influence that is exerted upon the recipient depends entirely on the individual. As most pieces of media output are “polysemic” in nature, meaning that it is capable of having different meanings and readings from person to person (O’Sullivan, Dutton, Rayner: 1998:327), the way in which, or by how much, an individual is influenced is entirely through choice.
Race is defined as, “A socio-political concept constructed for social control of subdominant groups” (Levine-Rasky 64). Race can look at individuals features such as skin color, eyes and even hair color, when looking at race it cannot be changed or hidden. Even to tie in ethnicity with race, people view ethnicity as a way of life through a shared culture with different races. Whether its language, religion, culture, food so on and so forth. Race goes beyond colour of our skin, hair and looks but however refers to our genetic history that distinct us from other races.
The hypodermic needle model demonstrates the primary reason for immediate media effects. The hypodermic needle model states that often times the media can send a message to a viewer and the viewer will receive it as a credible source without any other verification (Bryant, Jennings, et al.). The hypodermic needle theory, as well as fear, are a dangerous combination. Two instances of immediate public response due to the hypodermic needle theory are Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast and Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle”.
Furthermore, society has adhered to the development of social networking and other instant means of sharing and connecting with the rest of society. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twit...
The development of technology has erupted over the past few years, resulting in an immense number of inventions and breakthroughs. One of considered humanity “greatest invention” is the social media. According to Kaplan (2010), ‘Social media is a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content’. Social media such as Facebook, twitter and Instagram have influenced and changed our ideologies, and perspectives. Although the public would like to believe that social media has provided them with benefits that make their life easier, it may also negatively impact one’s life. This essay will be discussing the major benefits
The media is sometimes called the “Fourth Estate” because of its influence in shaping the course of politics and public opinion. Some people are influenced by what they read or hear and others are not. There is a well-known psychological process called selective attention. Wilson, Dilulio, and Bose define it as “paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees.” (290)