Media Torrent - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... In his article “Supersaturation, or The Media Torrent and Disposable Feeling”, Todd Gitlin states his observation and provides sufficient evidence supporting the fact that media has great influence on our lives. Right from the time of emergence of television and internet, media has been influencing the lives of individuals whether it is through print, television, films or social networking websites. However one may take into account the fact that the notion of media saturation has gone through several significant amendments since the time Gitlin’s article was published.
There are many evidences illustrated by Gitlin that support his ideas of “super-saturation” and “disposable feeling”. The literal meaning of “super-saturation” is to increase the concentration of solution beyond saturation. The word “super-saturation” is used by Gitlin for defining the notion that how the modern society has completely absorbed the internet and media. The society is completely immersed in the images and gossips that are being displayed by media. There is no clear line present, which distinguishes living space from working space. Outer world has invaded the inner world of people. Gitlin uses the phrase “disposable feeling” because individuals today are easily switching from one feeling to another, one scandal to another, without making effort to actually find out the hidden truth. I completely agree with Gitlin’s idea that media has its impact on our lives through several means and its component have gradually immersed in our daily. We can easily observe the amount of movies and TV shows being watched and quantity of CD’s and cameras being used in today’s modern world. Gitlin states that the extensive use of internet has not diminished the use of media but has affected the flow of unlimited media. I do support the fact presented by Gitlin that Internet has revolutionized the use of media. Our hyper-mediated world is affected by internet to a great extent converting us from media users to media producers (Gitlin). Gitlin’s article to some extent downplays the massive influence that internet had on the society at the time it was penned. Despite of this fact many of the points suggested by Gitlin are still valid in today’s world. The emergence of the social networking website “Facebook” is the example of the actualization of Gitlin’s observation. This website is known for providing its users with hyper-mediated experience as it allows them to upload photos, videos, texts and provide them variety of ways through which they are allowed to express themselves. Facebook media is different from the inherent media as on this social networking website a mass population is acting of watching other people’s activities. 600 million Facebook users actively participate in this process of acting and watching. They create their own replicas through their profiles. People become kings, queens, demons, angels and adopt the character of their choice, which is far away from reality. These websites have created a virtual world that is far from reality. Gitlin has also stated that individuals today have the authority to create their own content. This proposition of Gitlin can be easily implied to the communicative quality of Facebook where individuals develop their original content and portray it in a way different from reality. The experience of their life is no ...Download file to see next pagesRead More