Modern Media And Technology Conditions The Public Mind

Social media has become deeply embedded as a part of today’s American culture and lifestyles, changing the way people interact and communicate with one another. Americans use social media every day; to not only communicate, but to express themselves. These online media sites and blogs serve as entertainment for its users and give them a sense of a social life if they do not already have one. Some users become so obsessed with their online lives that they lose the ability to successfully communicate with people in real life. Their craving for the use of social media becomes an addiction to where they can spend countless hours on their social sites. Facebook, a popular social media cite, has been proven to cause Facebook Depression, a sickness in which a person is emotionally depressed and in self denial. Studies have shown that sites such as Facebook, are a direct link to an individual’s physical and emotional well being.

Throughout the years, the definition of beauty constantly changes. In our society today many children are told to be true to themselves, to be unique, to be who they are, etc.; But on the other hand social media and the celebrities on there are a constant reminder that there is a certain type of beautiful. The juxtaposition between being yourself and being what is “beautiful” has consistent grey areas and blurred lines making it almost impossible to keep up with what’s “beautiful”. The media, whether intentional or not, portrays this certain body image that you have to be in order to qualify as beautiful.

A recent study published in 2016 by a team of researchers found that in a survey of 1,787 adults, ages 19-32 there was a “strong and significant association between social media use and depression in a nationally representative sample of U.S. young adults” (Lindsey et al.). This is not the first study to confirm the hypothesis that social media use causes depression, but it is the most recent and largest study to date and it confirms the findings of other smaller studies done. Perhaps social media makes lonely people less lonely by allowing them to easily meet new people or rekindle old social bonds. However, a study lead by social psychologist Robert Kraut on depression and internet use found that users who were introverted were more likely to feel depressed and lonely using the internet that extroverted internet users (49-74). Social media has even given way to a new term, FOMO…or the fear of missing out which users can experience as they peruse Facebook. Not only does the internet hardwire us for depression, but its driving content can make us feel more lonely or

In our society, media is constantly being used not only to communicate but also to learn about what is going around the world. The web gives the chance to share news and even lets people talk to one another. The internet spreads information and ideas quickly and reaches out too many people. Much of what our society sees and reads often come from sources provided by the internet. Based on these sources, knowledge is gained, wither it is real or fake. Constantly seeing media gives our society the idea that it is real. Videos, music, and photos are a way of spreading ideas clearly to more people. Due to this, ideas such as the end of the world sparks conversations and creates theories.

For example, the images and celebrities in the media set the standard for what we find attractive. As a result of, leading people to go to dangerous extremes to have the biggest biceps or fit into size 2 jeans. Today, more than 66 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. In the American body, the media idealizes images of the male and female bodies. But, at the same time the media in the form of television, the internet, movies, and print publications is more powerful than before. “We live in a day and age where people make it IMPOSSIBLE for women, men, anyone to embrace themselves exactly how they are. Diversity is sexy! Loving yourself is sexy!” (Strecker, 2015, para. 2).

For example, Jennifer Lawrence was recently featured on the cover of Flare magazine, but it wasn’t entirely her. An already beautiful woman was altered and refined so that she could fit the qualifications of the magazine editors. They photoshopped her to look thinner, have more appealing features, and even changed the shape and color of her hands. If a famous actress that is already looked to as gorgeous had to be modified to look better, how can common women ever feel good about themselves? Only 5% of women in the U.S. are said to naturally have the picture-perfect body that is portrayed in media. 40-70% of girls that are in grade school either want to lose weight because of magazine pictures or think that the perfect body is depicted by magazines. 42% of girls in 1st through 3rd grade want to lose weight. 81% of 10 year olds are scared of getting fat. The media’s interpretation of the ideal body is even affecting kids. We can prevent that by stressing that being “average” isn’t what you see on magazines, being “average” is any way someone can be

In various outlets of media, the body type of long and thin has been praised as being superior to all other body types. A majority of celebrities are thin, and they are seen as attractive, glamorous, and overall beautiful in Western Culture. Due to the fact that individuals in Western Culture tend to look up to and admire celebrities, common people are given the standard of looking overly thin to be recognized as beautiful. This standard of beauty emphasizes an unhealthy weight as ideal beauty in Western Culture.

Moreover, media has made its way into our lives so much that it has even begun to affect the was we view ourselves. When the public sees famous people with perfect teeth, hair, makeup, clothes, and bodies in a daily basis, they start to assume that a normal person should look this way everyday. Media gives an

So, even with models being underweight and naturally beautiful the media still puts them through an extensive process in order to obtain the perfect look that the media defines as beauty. After hours of applying makeup, fixing hair and finding the right lighting the photographs of the models are still edited. Editors spend endless hours to achieve the perfect photo by using Photoshop and other digital manipulation techniques behind the scenes, the editors can change everything on a photograph: eyes, nose, teeth, hair, and skin color. These unrealistic images in the media have a powerful influence on how we perceive ourselves. Mass media has our perception of beauty so distorted that we are now doing whatever means necessary to achieve the unrealistic image of beauty that they have portrayed to

For a long time, the media has been renown for falsely or inaccurately representing different groups, genders and races of people. Representation can be defined as a view or portrayal someone has on a person or group of people. Two of the most common representations the media makes are that men are dominant, aggressive and muscular, while women are submissive, blonde haired - blue eyed, slim and beautiful. However this is not the case. What the media shows as being normal is in fact abnormal and does not reflect reality. Quite often these representations affect the values of those who consume media, in turn, this affects society in ways that may be detrimental to them, because the portrayals of themselves they have seen in the media of which they try to become, aren’t reality. The reason the media affects people's value systems so strongly is because people just want to fit in, so they try to be like the representations of others they see on TV, online, and in other forms of media.

You see things in shows like girls playing with their barbies wearing cute pink outfits while the boys roughhouse in the background playing sports. The media has a very compelling influence on today's society, its shapes our perspective on life without us realizing it, all the while altering our behaviors and attitudes towards social norms. One example is If teenagers see unrealistic ‘thin’ or ‘muscular’ body types often enough, it can have an impact on their body image and dieting behavior. But it doesn't start with the media, of course, it starts with our parents  and their own gender orientations. As we grow up, other groups influence

The media is constantly ringing in our ears and communicating lies that don’t leave our minds. They tell us what is in and what is our, they tell us to focus on the materialistic things, they tell us that if we don’t know what’s in and what’s out then we aren’t cool. Then we don’t fit the standards that they set for us to achieve, we don’t fit the mold they want us to fit. The media tells us that the amount of likes we receive determines our worth. The media tells us that if we get enough followers, then we made it. The media causes us to become

Not only is the interest of the owners of large companies pushed out to the public, but also the interest of the companies who pay these media companies in advertising to citizens to sell their goods. Advertising is an important influence in what the public sees in media and has a direct influence on the public’s interest in the product (Rinallo, Basuray; 2009). Companies such as Nike and Coca-Cola can pay networks such as ABC and FOX large sums of money to advertise their companies through their programing. As Herman and Chomsky explain, networks such as ABC and FOX are selling their audience to these companies (1988). Media outlets such as FOX News depends on funding to make a profit and since there is no system in place where the funds

These images make little girls and women believe that if they don’t look a certain way they need to change everything about themselves until they look exactly like those models and celebrities. Society today refuses to accept people who accept their flaws instead of telling the population that flaws make a person essentially unique and different. The concept of beauty revolves around three main ideas: Physical appearance, aging, and losing control of themselves.

Identifying whether an audience is Passive or Active is not always as black and white as it seems. Scholars agree that an Active audience is defined as an audience member that is not simply receiving information and believing it (such as a sponge), they are active in their interpretation of the text, meaning they are able to dissect the text and come to their own conclusions. On the contrary, a Passive audience member simply soaks up all information shown to them in a media text without any user interaction, just as the creator of the media form intended. Different scholars have differing theories on how the media influences the minds of all who consume it, and it is impossible to tell which theory is correct. However most theorists agree that one theory may fit one audience member, but not the other. For example, one viewer watching a program such as 60 Minutes or A Current Affair may believe everything being said wholeheartedly and without interpretation, however another might be skeptical or decide to research the story for themselves. The three theories that are prominent when debating Passive vs Active are the Hypodermic Needle/Magic Bullet theory, Agenda Setting theory and the Uses and Gratifications theory.