Media Use and Influence: Understanding the Power of Media

Media Use and Influence: Understanding the Power of Media

Question

Media Use and Effects

What are your personal goals for understanding the messages you are currently receiving?

Interpret incoming messages proactively or with an automatic response?

Do you tend to visit the same channels for the same types of content?

When was the last time you used new sources to expand your media presence?

Do your actions align with your beliefs and what advertisers expect of you? Discuss low and high levels of media literacy and give examples of each.

Why is it important to have more control over the media it contacts?

Discuss the importance and impact of media literacy on society.

Answer

In today’s world, media usage influences individual behavior. Media affects both the personal and private lives of individuals. Media has influenced our lives to such an extent that it determines which products we use. Today, media run the world. More and more people are using social media to document and share their experiences. Media use plays an important role in our daily activities. Media influences us a lot. Recognizing these influences helps us understand media literacy and interpret the messages we receive every day. I personally spend 5-6 hours on media. It’s part of my daily routine. Using mobile devices is an important part of my daily life. Mobile devices are no longer just a means of communication, they have evolved into media distribution hubs. I usually spend an hour playing games because of the increase in games and the interest of young people. Media influences us. However, we look for high-profile issues to determine media impact. However, the media has a great influence on our daily life. Key media literacy can provide media knowledge through which we can determine the media effects in our daily and we can decide to influence by those effects.

Based on timing media effects can be classified into categories as long term media effects and short term media effects, I personally spend much time on media I do have media effects, if we have knowledge of media effects then we can easily figure it out whether the effect is long term or it is short term. I personally tune in to media message in morning so that I can get the brief of what is happening around, also to access the latest news of world. Immediate effects by media noticed easily as compared to long-term effects, the reason behind this is that during exposure to a particular message, it is easy to link the connection between the message and its impact and we can easily conclude that there was a media effect. When I personally exposed to a message I actively retrieve it rather than retrieving it with automatic response, the reason behind this is I want to engage into that information received by my actively.

Sociocultural theory and its implications

There is a theory called sociocultural theory that is an excellent way of explaining the effects of society and media on individuals. This theory argues that society and media influence individuals in relation to fashion and eating habits (Dye, 2016). Eating disorders among college students are increasing year by year, and in fact, eating disorders are most prevalent in the 12- to 15-year-old age group (Dye, 2016). Media influences can be positive, negative, or neutral. The nature of the impact is determined by the individual or society. From an individual’s point of view, we can determine if the effect is positive because it can meet individual needs and achieve individual goals.

From a social perspective, the impact is positive if social norms such as peace, no intimidation and respect are met. There are various channels that provide information to us. In my case, when I receive a message or information from one channel, I usually compare it with other channels. The reason is that they want to know real news and topical information. That’s why I don’t rely on a single channel for information.

When I’m bored, I choose the media’s deliberate effect on myself. Intentional effects are effects that we consciously choose for our own satisfaction. Generally, we are exposed to such effects in order to obtain happiness, but other unintended effects also occur during happiness. Unintended effects can be both long-term and immediate. I myself have unintentionally been affected by the above. I used to surf the internet for satisfaction, but this ended my internet addiction. In the past, I used to go to TV only to gather information, but as time went on, I found it boring and decided to expand my media presence by focusing on Internet sources. Browsing the various websites on the Internet is interesting and keeps me up to date with the latest information from around the world.

A belief is a belief that something is true. The media continues to give users a belief effect. Media exerts belief effects by using characters to influence consumers, but we simply choose to accept or reject that belief. In this way, media messages gradually shape our belief systems over time. I am not influenced by media persuasion strategies and can choose my beliefs through behavioral ideologies, deciding what to believe and what not to believe. Beliefs about relationships, attractiveness, and success tend to change depending on the media.

Media literacy is achieved by expanding knowledge of the influence of media, as we are surrounded by a media-saturated environment. Media literacy can be divided into two types: low-level media literacy and high-level media literacy. A low level of media literacy is understood to mean that one understands media effects only when they receive a lot of attention and is ignorant of small effects. An example of poor media literacy is watching something on TV, buying it, and understanding the subject matter. People with high media literacy are well aware of the impact media has on them. Example: I see commercials on TV, but I am not influenced by advertisers. This is an example of high media literacy. Exposure to certain media sources can affect our perceptions, so we need more control over the media sources we disclose.

Media literacy has a huge impact on society in shaping it. It helps us think critically and become smart consumers of the products we present. Research shows the impact of television on individual behavior, participation in community activities, and participation in violence (Kumala Dewi et al., 2017).

References

Dye, , 2016. Does Internalizing Society and Media Messages Cause Body Dissatisfaction, in Turn Causing Disordered Eating? Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work, 13(1), pp.217-27.

Kumala Dewi, , Suryadarma, & Suryahadi, , 2017. The impact of media on behaviour: Evidence from television coverage expansion and declining fertility in indonesia. Development policy review, 36(1), pp.552-63.