When discussing modern society, it is quite
evident that there have been considerable changes in the standpoints regarding
social media and its impact on society. After reading and analyzing over
ten blogs about how mass media affected one’s world, I came to realize that
there was a consensus among these blogs. The consensus is that mass media is
negative in one way or another. I am an advocate of social media but after
reading their opposing viewpoints, they got me to look at this topic through a
different lens and in turn, I found myself agreeing with many points that were
made.
Melissa Froese mentioned the following: “Without
the media, like Twitter or Facebook, some people wouldn’t know what is going on
in the world” http://melissasblogview.wordpress.com/. Although these forms of
social media do allow news to spread a lot quicker and to a mass amount of
people, it does not mean that if you weren’t a part of these mass communication
sites you would not know what is going on in the world. I have friends who are
not on Facebook, Twitter, etc that are still up to date on world issues. That
being said, they do use other websites (such as CNN or online newspapers) to
get information. This proves to me that one cannot completely avoid the use of
media.
Katie Flynn had a different position on why
technology has negatively affected society. She said: “I feel that all of this
technology is terrible for our social skills and has really minimized face to
face communication” http://mediapopculturechick.wordpress.com/.
Upon reflection, I strongly believe that face to face communication has
decreased in our lives. We are so quick to email, text, etc., instead of
picking up the phone and talking to someone. Another example that came to mind
is at my daughter’s school. The students are allowed to stay in during recesses
to access online games instead of playing, socializing or being active on the
playground. Katie also sparked my interest when she goes into detail about
texting while driving. She talked about car crashes and how many lives are lost
because of the way we use technology. The ignorance of people who are using
technology is disturbing to me.
Another blog I read by Alexandra Deyman states
that: “Using the Internet for school or work purposes are useful, but I am
almost positive everyone has drifted off the task at hand and has found himself
or herself on a social networking site without even noticing! Again this
proves why mass media can be negative.” http://alexandradeyman.wordpress.com/. I
agree with this, as I have been a culprit of this myself. Through my
readings of blogs, it is clear that the majority of people are tied to social
media and network sites. Although there are positives of using social media
there are plenty of negatives that come along with it.
As previously mentioned mass media has a vast
impact on society; whether it is positive or negative. My final thought for
this evaluation is that although as a society we heavily rely on social media
site, I would hope that people use them for what they are intended for rather
than be dominated by them.
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