The Effect of Media on People - Research Paper Example

? Supervisor’s The Effect of Media on People A human being is born with the instincts of interacting, socializing and mingling within their environment among one another. From the time of Stone Age, man has been communicating with others in different ways either through signs and symbols or through various primitive languages. The common factor in all the means of communication adopted by human beings over time is the exchange of ideas. Media is the official name given to this exercise by the modern world. With the passage of time, communication was molded in different forms. First it took the shape of carving with stones. It was followed by conveying verbal messages by slaves or subordinates through covering distances on foot or animals at a later stage. Then with the invention of paper came the time of writing letters and sending telegrams. Even for that matter, man had to make journeys of days and night to reach his destination. With the invention of radio in 1895 with the efforts of a number of researchers, people were able to send their messages across borders. The era of radio lasted many years. It was an important mode of communication especially during World Wars I and II. Man has always been a mode of communication himself. The best storyteller is a human being. It started from the beginning of time, when stories were exchanged by families, tribes and entire villages. It gave rise to an aura of enchantment that lasted for ages until the birth of other modes of interaction. During that period, the concept of communicating through imagery was also common. Lifetimes were drawn or painted in the form of art in churches, castles or inside caves. Such drawings contained the power of talking to the viewer. (ChallengingMedia 2010) This essence of communication prevailed until the advent of industrial era. Industrial revolution brought the printing press combined with steam engine technology to develop something which was called the newspaper. (ChallengingMedia 2010). This amalgamation changed the paradigm of media. It proved to be an easy and approachable medium for people to educate themselves about the life around them through reading. The biggest advantage of newspapers was the increase in literacy rate. People lost the tradition of telling or hearing stories through the primary source. Instead, people started to limit apparent interaction. Then with the dawn of the electronic revolution came a new mode, the television. The television dominated the electronic age. It was run through antennas that caught channels from satellites and transmitted them throughout the world on televisions. It attracted people of all ages but the strongly attracted was the economic and business market. Businessmen started investing through broadcasting commercials on televisions that in return paid for the programs run on it. The United States was the one of the countries that took advantage of this new technology and helped raise its economy through media channels. (ChallengingMedia 2011) Today, the electronic media has expanded and evolved further in the form of the Internet, social networks like Facebook and Twitter, the film industry, the music industry and mobile phones. The Internet which was the invention of the United States during Second World War for the purpose of communication over large distances was later transformed into a public entity. It led people connect across oceans within a matter of seconds through emails, live broadcasting, chatting and webcam. It is splendid and saturated mode of information. The Internet along with the introduction of computers and laptops has made life simple. Now the use of paper and pen or type writer machines has been replaced by typing on computers with advanced features of writing editing. The social networks like the Facebook and Twitter has enhanced the mode of connectivity. Currently there are more than sixty thousand people on Facebook and one hundred and ninety people have joined Twitter. Such networks enable people to share their ideas related to politics, religion, arts, culture, science, music, history and much more. The United Nations drafted human rights declaration on 10th December sixty three years back. The draft outlined the rights to life, freedom from torture, freedom from slavery, the right to a fair trial, freedom of speech, and freedom of thought, conscience and religion. (Laura 2011).These social networks provide the platform to express these particular rights. Television integrated with cable networks is another medium that transmits almost everything from world news, education, film and drama, style and fashion, science and fiction to cartoons. It keeps people updated about whatever is happening around the world. Media is a tool that has brought the diverging world to a converging point where the world connects through the Internet, television and mobile phones. Like everything, media has negative and positive aspects on the people who depend on it. The question under consideration is who among the public is getting affected by media the most. If it’s the youth then where do they stand on the spectrum of media? The positive effect of media on youth is that it enables and enriches them with knowledge about every issue of life. A child who uses the Internet is smarter than an adult who reads the newspaper. Media enables people to learn sitting in their homes. The need to travel long distances in search of knowledge has diminished because it is on everybody’s doorstep now. Not only television but other mediums like the newspaper and radio helps in spreading some of knowledge. Radio is being revived in the 21st century. A lot of entertainment is broadcasted on radio. The cell phones and cars are incorporated with radio devices so it has become a mobile mode of communication and transmission. These modes being the sources of entertainment are spreading awareness related to politics, religion and general knowledge in parallel. They quench the thirst of curiosity of children who are desperate to learn new things in life.(Chowdhury 2011). This is called Media Literacy, the rate of which is higher among youth rather than old people. Now the use of Internet is included in the curriculum of children at schools. This helps them to grasp and excel at these media elements from a very early age. The negative aspects of media are that it has become an obsession of everyone. People have given in their lifestyles to media culture. Like the positive effects, the negative effects also clouds over the youth. Children have gotten so much involved in media that they no longer prioritize their school and studies. Teenagers are attracted to video games which have a tendency to bring out violence and aggressiveness in them. (Tompkins 2003). This limits their outdoor activities which can lead to social awkwardness, lack of confidence and in some cases inferiority complex. Also, sitting in front of the television or computer for hours can lead to medical issues like obesity, heart diseases, joint problems and eyesight weakness. This shows that media can be addictive. Other negative effect of media is that it gives rise to a very subtle line between privacy and transparency. Giving out too much information on the Internet, especially on the social networks can lead to violation of privacy. Media is a very transparent tool of communication. This is evident when political issues are discussed openly and it can sometimes lead to a heated argument which results in embarrassment. Furthermore, there are certain channels on the television that broadcast explicit programs or images which need to be censored from children. It can lead negative character building if there is no check and balance. Besides that, the commercials aired on media channels tempt viewers to the extent that they want to try whatever products are shown. For instance, cosmetics for women tend to manipulate the viewers. They are shown a perfect image of a woman which makes the viewer to achieve that perfectness hence raising a sense of insecurity about how their look and personalities. In 2003, it was reported in Teen Magazine that 50-70% of normal-weight girls believed they were overweight. Thirty years ago, the average model was 8% thinner than the average woman, whereas in our society today, the average model is 23% thinner than the average woman. (Adelaide 2011). So Media can either make or break an individual’s personality. The concept of reading books or writing with pen no longer exists. The trend of going to a public library and issuing books is gone. Young people don’t develop their own handwriting because the trend of typing and printing is more prominent in schools, colleges, universities and offices. Media has distanced people from their ancestral culture and traditions. However, Media is a silent revolutionist. It has been bringing changes on a wider scale either through television, radio or the Internet. Media has lit every corner of the world. Life is incomplete without it. Media is a source that has brought different cultures, ethnicities and personalities under one roof. Now famous celebrities, who in the past were out of reach of the general public are able to interact with their fans on either through Facebook or Twitter. Media is playing the role of a platform for youth who are full of creative and new ideas. Their ideology is being reflected through media channels either in the form of music, documentaries or films. The implementation of media studies in the curriculum of universities is another gesture that people of the 21st century are accepting the role and influence of media on their lifestyles. The existence of free media in democratic countries is yet another symbol of support for media. How people utilize this advanced medium of communication is up to them. There is always a choice to choose between the negative and positive aspects. References Tompkins Aimee, 2003. “The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children. AllPsych Journal. Retrieved on 11th December 2011 from http://allpsych.com/journal/violentmedia.html The Mean World Syndrome-Media as Storytellers. Challenging Media. 18th February 2010. Retrieved on 11th December 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylhqasb1chI Laura. “Human Rights and Social Media”. Weblog. Childcare Worldwide Transforming Lives. 10th December 2011. Retrieved on 11th December 2011 from http://www.childcareworldwide.org/blog/index.php/2011/12/human-rights-and-social-media/ Chowdhury Bipasha. “Impact of media on learning”. Weblog. Jaime Harding’s Blog. 10th December 2011. Retrieved on 11th December 2011 from http://jaimeharding1.typepad.com/blog/2011/12/impact-of-media-on-learning.html Chuma Adelaide. “Body Image: Media’s Negative Effect”. 30 November 2011. School News. Otago Daily Times. Retrieved on 11th December 2011 from http://www.odt.co.nz/news/schools-news/188722/body-image-medias-negative-effect Read More