Media is used by so many different people that over the years it has had a major impact on the way people live their lives, and also the way people view the world. The era of technology has been revolutionary, and even though it has caused society to move forward in the way teenagers socialize, the way adults do business, consumers shop, and the politicians campaign, it seems as though the more we use it the more control it has over our lives.
When someone asks the question ” Does the media have a negative or positive affect on society”? Everything gets narrowed down to age and personal preference. in an article by the American Academy of Pediatrics it explains a condition called “Facebook Depression” , which is when a person, mostly teenagers and adolescents, spends so much time using social media that they compare themselves to what they see online and start to feel inadequate with who they are in real life. One of the main causes for this is a person’s need for self-acceptance. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter seem to correlate with one’s self esteem because when people see what others are posting online they can feel compelled compare themselves, or even project a false image about themselves to become more popular. This is why the easy access to the internet has become topic of debate amongst parents. The more advanced cell phones have gotten the more numb and lazy teenagers have become. I think that there is definitely a generation gap in the world of digital media. While adults continuously try to penetrate the cyber bubble that today’s youth live in, more and more young adolescents are becoming connected without being aware of the consequences of social experimentation.
This is why I think it is important for people to have as much face-to-face contact as online contact because it is easy for adolescent youth to become totally consumed by the internet and social media sites.
News organizations have struggled to keep themselves relevant in this day in age since focused on the latest gossip sometimes overshadows the importance of current events. Typically the more “likes” or “re-tweets” a post gets the more important it is in the eyes of the majority, it is rare that someone stop and pay attention to an article that has not gone viral. In a New York Times article, “How Facebook Is Changing the Way Its Users Consume Journalism” it explains how digital codes are used to figure out what type of articles people would be interested in reading while they are on social media sites, I consider this to be the same as flipping through a newspaper and being drawn in by the headline because the choice to click on an article is ultimately up to the person behind the screen.
2 comments
I enjoyed your entry, I like that you believe there is not a simple answer to the question “does the media have a negative or positive effect on society?” like a yes or no. You state, it comes down to age and preference, and you also include generational gaps which was a big part of the first article, when it came to parents that are not technologically savvy.
I also agree with the question that you stated “does the media have a negative or positive effect on society?” because it is a neutral answered question. it all depends on what direction people are guided into.