Indecent Behavior in Social Media - Essay Example

Indecent Behavior in Social Media Indecency is a subjective term. What may be indecent to one person, might not be to another. Typically, specific cultures and society have a sense of shared values and morals which creates common ground on what this culture or society considers to be indecent. The term “indecent” implies something that is offensive or improper, something that is considered unacceptable in society. Basically, within the media, something is considered to be indecent when it violates the behavior and values within society.

In America, the predominant religion is Christianity, so often times, anything that goes against those Christian values is deemed to be indecent. Overt sexuality and vulgar language are the most common areas of indecency identified in the media. However, even with the predominant religion being Christianity, the American culture is growing more and more tolerant and secular, which is impacting the media’s ability to push the envelope. This pushing of the envelope is visible in many of the popular television programs today.

For example, with the television program called The Vampire Diaries, the network presented advertisements for the show which stated “Catch VD” and “Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate” which were accompanied by sexualized pictures of the show’s cast(Weiss, 2011). The age group for this show is largely young teenagers, so by advertising in this manner, it illustrates that this sexualized “indecent” behavior is becoming more and more accepted by younger and younger audiences. The Parent’s Television Council keeps an eye on the media for things such as this and makes sure to discourage people from watching it and keeps itself a visible force in the media as a group which displays public disagreement with the indecent behavior portrayed on television.

An additional example is the popular reality show known as Jersey Shore. According to the article entitled “MTV’s Jersey Shore Rides Bad Waves After Viewers Respond,” this reality show promotes a variety of indecent behaviors such as sexual promiscuity, drinking, smoking, and vulgar language(Griffin, 2009). The show pulls in millions of viewers every week and has become one of MTV’s most watched television programs with its stars becoming wealthy and famous. The popularity of this program indicates that people have become more accepting of bad behavior and are coming to see it as interesting rather than indecent.

Ultimately, it is this distinction which has led to the overall change in what our media and society allows: the interesting factor. Bad behavior has become something that interests people instead of repels them which has made it acceptable to put on television. The media is reacting to this change in society, and that is why these type of behaviors are starting to become more prevalent. Now, it is the smaller groups like the Parent’s Television Council which has taken on the role of policing the media, but it appears, at this point, that society is in control of this right now, which is why indecent behavior has started to be seen as regular or decent behavior.

ReferencesGriffin, Donyel. "MTV's Jersey Shore show rides bad waves after viewers respond - Philadelphia Pop Culture | Examiner.com." Examiner.com. 5 Dec. 2009. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. .Weiss, Shari. "'Vampire Diaries' tells viewers to 'Catch VD' in controversial new ad campaign - New York Daily News." The New York Daily News. 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 8 Oct. 2011. .