THE EFFECTS OF MASS MEDIA ON CULTURE

Mass media is defined as a collection of all communications through which information is dispersed to a large audience e.g. Television, Radio, Newspaper etc. Culture can be defined as any thing that defines a community starting from their way of life, their language, their dress code, beliefs, the products they create etc. The communitys culture is important because it dictates the norms of the community and every individual within it. Currently we are living in a society that heavily depends on information and communication obtained from the various mass media to keep us on the move in the right path and also to do our daily activities for instance work, travelling, education and many more. Today our attitude towards everything ranging from soaps to politics is highly influenced by the media and thus we to be more vigilant on the content we are getting from the various Medias to be actually correct and the right thing. The nature of content in most mass media is quite persuasive and hence easily persuades influences the thought and behavior of the general public the content is presented to. Aesthetics and institutions of a civilization are included in our way of life and thus are defined as culture. Hence I would be lying if I didnt admit that media is an influential entity in our culture with relevance to todays way of life. The following are the positive effects of mass media on culture: The media shows constructive information especially in news channels, documentaries and other educational shows. These shows boost self esteem in kids, heighten their interest levels and encourage them to ask relevant questions on a particular question. The media keeps us aware of what is happening around us and also provides us with a fair share of information of what is happening around the globe. Hence acts as a gateway to foreign and unknown knowledge of what is happening without our physical presence at that particular place. With the knowledge obtained from various mass media about other cultures and beliefs and also the information one is able to obtain from interacting with various people from various walks of life one is able to understand and embrace other peoples cultures. The media provides us with an avenue to creative outlets that may change our perspectives and may even push us to the limit to better ourselves.

The following are the negative effects of mass media on culture: Our dress code has been highly influenced by the mass media through mostly beauty reality shows and magazines, since most people want to wear what is shown on advertisements in the name of fashion. This slowly disassociates a community from its own culture. Information on the mass media can have a bad influence on morals of the society, like for instance getting into substance abuse, which is illustrated in movies as being mature or cool. This in turn misleads children on what is right and morally upright. Mass media has slowly a developed culture of laziness among kids since they spend most their time on the couch couch potatoes. Hence this has made them obese because they are no longer engaging in outdoor active. The media also easily influences violence among the young audience who mostly are after mimicking what they see on the internet or television, mistaking the acts of violence with it being a form of entertainment as shown by the media. My conclusion is that the effects of mass media on our culture isnt as any good as bad rather its neutral and depends it solely depends on how one uses it, but also the mass media as much as they are out there to make profit they also have a moral responsibility to uphold and retain the culture of the society. All in all we, ourselves need to be more vigilant and look for not only the positive opinions on a certain matter but also the opposing opinions and from there evaluate the facts for ourselves rather than blindly accepting the information we obtain from the media as the truth. REFERENCES
Neha Agarwal (19th September 2013). Retrieved from http://article-

marketing.articlesbase.com/effects-of-mass-media-on-young-generation-562352.html. Rayuso (19th September 2013). Retrieved from http://rayuso.hubpages.com/hub/Mass-MediaInfluence-on-Society.html. Uttara Manohar (19th September 2013). Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/howdoes-the-media-affect-our-culture.html.