Media consumption or media diet is the sum of
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...
and
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...
taken in by an individual or group. It includes activities such as interacting with
new media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
,
reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
s and
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
s,
watching television and
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
, and listening to
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
.
An active media consumer must have the capacity for
skepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
, judgement,
free thinking
''Free Thinking'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of their "After Dark" late night programming. The programme is a rebranded version of ''Night Waves'', "Radio 3's flagship arts and ideas programme". ''Night Waves'' was b ...
, questioning, and understanding.
Media consumption is to maximize the interests of consumers.
History
For as long as there have been words and pictures, the people of the world have been consuming media. Improved
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
such as the
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
has fed increased consumption. Around 1600 the
camera obscura
A camera obscura (; ) is a darkened room with a aperture, small hole or lens at one side through which an image is 3D projection, projected onto a wall or table opposite the hole.
''Camera obscura'' can also refer to analogous constructions su ...
was perfected. Light was inverted through a small hole or lens from outside, and projected onto a surface or screen, creating a moving image. This new medium had a very small effect on society compared to the old ones. The
development of photography in the middle 19th century made those images permanent, greatly reducing the cost of pictures. By the end of the century millions of consumers were seeing new, professionally made photographs every day.
In the 1860s mechanisms such as the
zoetrope
A zoetrope is one of several pre-film animation devices that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. It was basically a cylindrical variation of the phénak ...
,
mutoscope
The Mutoscope is an early motion picture device, invented by W. K. L. Dickson and Herman Casler and later patented by Herman Casler on November 21, 1894. Like Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope, it did not project on a screen and provided viewing to ...
and
praxinoscope
The praxinoscope was an animation device, the successor to the zoetrope. It was invented in France in 1877 by Charles-Émile Reynaud. Like the zoetrope, it used a strip of pictures placed around the inner surface of a spinning cylinder. The ...
that produced two-dimensional drawings in motion were created. They were displayed in public halls for people to observe.
These
new media
New media describes communication technologies that enable or enhance interaction between users as well as interaction between users and content. In the middle of the 1990s, the phrase "new media" became widely used as part of a sales pitch for ...
foreshadowed the
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
consumption of later years.
Around the 1880s, the development of the
motion picture camera
A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either on an image sensor or onto film stock, in order to produce a moving image to project onto a movie sc ...
allowed individual component images to be captured and stored on a single reel. Motion pictures were projected onto a screen to be viewed by an audience. This moving camera affected the progression of the world immensely, beginning the
American film industry
The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...
as well as early international movements such as
German Expressionism
German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...
,
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
and the
Soviet Montage
Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing ('' montage'' is French for "assembly" or "editing"). It is the principal contribution of Soviet film theorists to global cinema, and broug ...
. For the first time people could tell stories on film, and distribute their works to consumers worldwide.
In the 1920s electronic
television was working in laboratories,
and in the 1930s hundreds of receivers were in use worldwide. By 1941 the
Columbia Broadcasting System
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
(CBS) was broadcasting two 15-minute newscasts a day to a tiny audience on its New York television station. However, the television industry did not begin to boom until the general
post–World War II economic expansion
The post–World War II economic expansion, also known as the postwar economic boom or the Golden Age of Capitalism, was a broad period of worldwide economic expansion beginning after World War II and ending with the 1973–1975 recession. The U ...
.
Eventually television began to incorporate
color
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
, and multiple broadcasting networks were created.
Computers were developed in the middle 20th century, and commercialized in the 1960s. Apple and other companies sold computers for hobbyists in the 1970s, and in 1981
IBM released computers intended for consumers.
On August 6, 1991, the
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
and
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
, long in use by computer specialists, became available to the public. This was the start of the commercialized Internet that people use today.
In 1999,
Friends Reunited
Friends Reunited was a portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion with research, dating and job-hunting. The first and eponymous website was created by a husband-and-wife team in the classic back-bedroom Internet s ...
, the first
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
site, was released to the public. Since then,
Myspace,
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
,
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
and other social networks have been created. Facebook and Twitter are the top social media sites in terms of usage.
Facebook has a total of 1,230,000,000 consumers while Twitter has 645,750,000. Both companies are worth billions of dollars, and continue to grow.
Overall media consumption has immensely increased over time, from the era of the introduction of motion pictures, to the age of social networks and the internet.
People involved
Media is the sum of information and entertainment media taken in by an individual or group. The first source of media was solely word of mouth. When written language was established, scrolls were passed, but mass communication was never an option. It wasn't until the printing press that media could be consumed on a high level. Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany printing press. His technology allowed books, newspapers, and flyers to be printed and distributed on a mass level.
The first newspaper written on paper was done by Benjamin Harris in the British-American Colonies. The invention of a newspaper was one of the most influential pieces in media consumption history, because it pertained to everyone.
Eventually communication reached an electronic state, and the telegraph was invented. Harrison Dyar, who sent electrical sparks through chemically treated paper tape to burn dots and dashes, invented the first telegraph in the USA.
The telegraph was the first piece of equipment that allowed users to send electronic messages. A more developed version came from Samuel Morse, whose telegraph printed code on tape and was operated using a keypad and an earpiece.
The pattern of communication soon became known as Morse code.
Inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both independently designed the telephone. The telephone was simple enough for everyone to use and didn't require learning a code.
Soon after the telephone came the radio. Combining technology from both the telegraph and telephone, Guglielmo Marconi sent and received his first radio signal in 1895.
Finally in 1947, after a long period of development, television exploded as a medium. Not one person is responsible for the creation of the television, but Marvin Middlemark invented "rabbit ears" in 1930, which allowed for televisions to be a commercial product. The television has by far been the most influential consumed media, and allowed news to spread on a visual level.
In 1976, Apple created the first consumer computer. The computer was the start of mass written communication using email. Apple continues to be a leading company in computer use.
In 1998, the first ever social media site
SixDegrees.com
SixDegrees.com is a social network service website that initially lasted from 1997 to 2000 and was based on the '' Web of Contacts'' model of social networking. It was named after the six degrees of separation concept and allowed users to list f ...
was created by
Andrew Weinreich
Andrew Weinreich ( ) is an American serial entrepreneur. He is a pioneer in the field of social networking and has been starting and building businesses since 1997.
Education & career
Weinreich graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in ...
. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. Shortly later in 1999,
Friends Reunited
Friends Reunited was a portfolio of social networking websites based upon the themes of reunion with research, dating and job-hunting. The first and eponymous website was created by a husband-and-wife team in the classic back-bedroom Internet s ...
was created by Steve and Julie Pankhurst and friend Jason Porter
Sites like MySpace created by
Tom Anderson
Thomas Anderson (born November 8, 1970) is an American technology entrepreneur and co-founder of the social networking service, social networking website Myspace, which he founded in 2003 with Chris DeWolfe. He was later president of Myspa ...
gained prominence in the early 2000s. By 2006, Facebook created by
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
and Twitter created by
Jack Dorsey
Jack Patrick Dorsey (born November 19, 1976) is an American Internet entrepreneur and programmer who is a co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, Inc., as well as a co-founder and the CEO and chairperson of Block, Inc., the developer of the Squar ...
both became available to users throughout the world. These sites remain some of the most popular social networks on the Internet.
Increase
Among other factors, a person's access to media technology affects the amount and quality of his or her intake. In the United States, for instance, "U.C. San Diego scientists in 2009 estimated the 'average' American consumes 34
gigabyte
The gigabyte () is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The prefix ''giga'' means 109 in the International System of Units (SI). Therefore, one gigabyte is one billion bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte is GB.
This defini ...
s of media a day." The amount of media consumption among individuals is increasing as new technologies are created. According to phys.org, a new study done by a researcher at the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, says that by 2015, the sum of media asked for and delivered to consumers on mobile devices and their homes would take more than 15 hours a day to see or hear,
an amount equivalent to watching nine DVDs' worth of data per person per day.
With
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
networks rapidly growing such as
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
,
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, and
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
, our world of media consumption is reaching a younger and younger age group, making our consumption that much larger as a country. With
mobile device
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
s such as
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s, news, entertainment, shopping and buying are all now at the tip of our fingers, anytime, anywhere.
Positive effects
There are a number of positive effects of media consumption. Television can have positive effects on children as they are growing up. Shows like ''Sesame Street'' teach valuable lessons to children in developmental stages, such as math, the alphabet, kindness, racial equality, and cooperation.
''Dora the Explorer'' introduces foreign language to children of all backgrounds in a fun, cooperative environment.
Mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
has a huge grasp on today's adolescents. Many young people use different types of social media daily. Mass media can be used to socialize adolescents from around the world and can help to give them a fundamental understanding of
social norm
Social norms are shared standards of acceptance, acceptable behavior by groups. Social norms can both be informal understandings that govern the behavior of members of a society, as well as be codified into wikt:rule, rules and laws. Social normat ...
s.
Media relating to advertising can also have a positive effect. Some alcohol manufacturers are known to spend at least ten percent of their budget on warnings about the dangers of drinking and driving.
Also, studies show that milk consumption (though controversial) shot up in children fifteen years of age and younger due to print and broadcast advertisements.
Many
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s can also have positive effects. Games like
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
Tennis and Wii Fit improve hand-eye coordination as well as general mental and physical health.
Video games, including shooting games, may positively impact a child's learning, as well as physical and mental health and social skills. Even games rated for mature audiences have been found to be beneficial to the development of children according to a study that was published by the American Psychological Association (
APA). The study showed that there is a need to look at the positive effects as well as the negative ones. When a child plays video games, they naturally develop problem-solving skills. Strategic video games, such as role-playing games, release statistics that the more intense game play improved in problem solving skills and there is a significant rise in school grades as well, according to a study that was taken over a several year span but was published in 2013.
The study also showcased that the creativity of children was also enhanced by playing all genres of video games, including mature rated games. Research revealed that video games benefit children significantly more than other sources of technology.
The internet itself is an overwhelmingly useful resource for people of all ages, effectively serving as a personal library for any who access it.
The sheer volume of educational websites, information and services offered are so immense that research has become a far easier task than it was in any previous period in human history. Social media has provided invaluable benefits for people over the course of its lifetime, and has served as an incredibly effective method of interacting and communicating with others in nearly every part of the world.
Media consumption has proven to serve as an indispensable asset in the educational field, serving both instructors and students alike. Instructors and students consume media for school curricula in Ontario. Media literacy is prominent amongst the youth who have essentially been born into an era where media is a global driving force. When a student learns to approach media sources with a critical lens, it can be observed that all forms of media have no sense of neutrality. Students who consume media are capable of questioning the validity of the media they are exposed to, in turn developing their own sense of critical thinking. To broaden their comprehension skills, students often find it useful to question an author's purpose, the reasoning for the placement of specific images or motifs, the representation of content and its meaning to individuals, and the effects of the media on individual and societal thinking. Media related to learning is typically considered a source as well as a tool. Since its start, many have successfully used
Rosetta Stone (software)
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Eg ...
to assist in the process of learning a new language. Rosetta Stone is a source compatible with several platforms i.e. (iPad, Tablet, Phone Apps Websites).
Negative effects
Media consumption can have a wide range of negative behavioral and emotional effects.
There are many instances of
violence in movies, television, video games and websites which can affect one's level of aggression. These violent depictions can desensitize viewers to acts of violence and can also provoke mimicking of the acts. Since violence is so rampant in media, viewers believe they live in a more violent world than they actually do.
The reach of media is expanding globally and with this television has become a vice around the world. Television addiction has been labeled as the plug in drug since 1977. Over the years televisions are now located in almost every home, according to most recent estimates taken by Nielsen in the U.S. alone there are 116.4 million T.V. homes
Television can have a negative impact on adolescents and cause them to behave in a manner that is not part of normal social norm. In an article about media violence on society it states that extensive TV viewing among adolescents and young adults is associated with subsequent aggressive acts. Programs that portray violent acts can change an adolescent's view on violence and this may lead them to develop aggressive behavior. These shows usually portray a person who commits a crime or resorts to violence. They also show that these people go unpunished for their crime, creating the notion that crime is something a person can get away with. Studies show that 65% of people between the age of 8 to 18 have a television in their room. The average high-schooler watches, on average, 14 hours of television a week.
Excessive television viewing and computer game playing has also been associated with many psychiatric symptoms, especially emotional and behavioral symptoms, somatic complaints, attention problems such as hyperactivity, and family interaction problems.
When adolescents watch television for long periods of time they spend less time being active and engaged in physical activity. Many adolescents who spend large amounts of time watching television see actors as role models and try to emulate them by trying to be like them this can also have a negative impact on people's
body image
Body image is a person's thoughts, feelings and perception of the aesthetics or sexual attractiveness of their own body. The concept of body image is used in a number of disciplines, including neuroscience, psychology, medicine, psychiatry, ps ...
s, mostly women.
After seeing beautiful and thinner than average women in the media, viewers may feel worse about themselves and sometimes develop eating disorders. Some believe that the reason obesity rates have greatly increased in the last 20 years is due to increased media consumption. This is due to the fact that children are spending much more time playing video games and watching television than exercising.
Social media is said to also cause anxiety and depression. Research suggests that young people who spend more than 2 hours per day on social media are more likely to report poor mental health, including psychological distress.
Numerous studies have also shown that media consumption has a significant association with poor sleep quality. Television and computer game exposure affect children's sleep and deteriorate verbal cognitive performance.
Another problem that has developed due to increased media consumption is that people are becoming less independent. With
text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...
and social media, people want
instant gratification
Delayed gratification, or deferred gratification, is the resistance to the temptation of an immediate pleasure in the hope of obtaining a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long-term. In other words, delayed gratification describes the pro ...
from their friends and often feel hurt if they do not receive an immediate response. Instead of having
self-validation, people often need validation from others.
Another issue with independence is that since children frequently get cellphones when they are very young, they are always connected and never truly alone. Today, many children do not have the
rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...
of being on their own because they can always call their parents if they need help or are frightened.
Minorities are often put in a negative light in the media as well, with blacks being portrayed as criminals, Hispanics portrayed as illegal aliens, and people from the Middle East portrayed as terrorists. Research has shown that consuming much media with headlines that depict minorities in negative ways can affect how people think.
Effects on Self-Esteem
Media has played a huge role in society for years in selling people on the expectations of how an ideal male and female body should look. These images of the "ideal body" can have a very negative effect on self-esteem in both men and women.
These images can play significant role in eating disorders in men and women as well.
The idea of body comparison goes back to Festinger's (1954) Social Comparison Theory. Festinger argues that individuals make body comparisons in areas for which they relate. If someone who is over weight and is an environment that focuses on health, thinness, or body images (e.g. the gym or the beach) they may be more likely to see thinness as an ideal that can increase dissatisfaction with their own body. The more a person engages in body comparison, the more likely they may struggle with low self-esteem and a negative body image.
Women are sold to believe that to be beautiful, they must be a size zero and have long legs. Men are sold the notion that they must big biceps and zero body fat. Reading magazines with images of toned muscular men has been reported to lower body and self-esteem in men and they start worrying more about their own health and physical fitness.
Social media
The amount of time spent on social media can inform people about their self-esteem. Research has shown that individuals with lower self-esteem may have an easier time expressing themselves on social media rather than in the real world.
Many people use metrics such as how many people are following them and likes to measure acceptance or rejection from peers. One study from the ''Journal of Experimental Social Psychology'', argues that individuals who feel accepted and part of the "in crowd" have a higher sense of self-esteem than those who do not feel as though they are a part of these crowds.
Semiotics of American youth media consumption
American youth have personal
television set
A television set or television receiver, more commonly called the television, TV, TV set, telly, tele, or tube, is a device that combines a tuner, display, and loudspeakers, for the purpose of viewing and hearing television broadcasts, or using ...
s,
laptop
A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...
s,
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
s and
cell phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
s all at their disposal. They spend more time with media than any single activity other than sleeping. As of 2008, the average American ages 8 to 18 reported more than 6 hours of daily media use. The growing phenomenon of "
media multitasking
Media multitasking is the concurrent use of multiple digital media streams. Media multitasking has been associated with depressive symptoms and social anxiety by a single study involving 318 participants. A 2018 review found that while the liter ...
"—using several forms of media at the same time—multiplies that figure to 8.5 hours of media exposure daily. Media exposure begins early, typically increases until children begin school, then climbs to a peak of almost 8 hours daily among 11 and 12-year-old children. Media exposure is positively related to risk-taking behaviors and is negatively related to personal adjustment and school performance.
Of
teenager
Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the te ...
s ages 12 to 17 in 2014, 78% had a cell phone, and 47% of those owned
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s. 23% of teens owned a
tablet computer
A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being comput ...
and 93% had a computer or access to one at home. Of teenagers ages 14 to 17, 74% accessed the Internet on
mobile device
A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...
s occasionally. One in four teens were mostly cell phone users, consuming a majority of their media with applications on their phone.
Media consumption, particularly
social media
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...
consumption, plays a major role in the
socialization
In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultur ...
and social behaviors of
adolescents. Socializing through media differs from socializing through school, community, family, and other social functions. Since adolescents typically have greater control over their media choices than over other social situations face-to-face, many develop self-socialization patterns. This behavior manifests itself actively in personal social development and outcomes due to the vast array of choices made available through social media. Adolescents have the ability to choose media that best suits their personalities and preferences, which in turn create youth that have a skewed view of the world and limited
social interaction
A social relation or also described as a social interaction or social experience is the fundamental unit of analysis within the social sciences, and describes any voluntary or involuntary interpersonal relationship between two or more individuals ...
skills. Socialization can consequently grow increasingly difficult for youth. Media, parents and peers may each convey conflicting messages to adolescents. With vastly differing views of how to approach various situations, confusion can be apparent and youth may avoid or internalize their social weaknesses.
Social semiotics
Social semiotics (also social semantics) is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice. Semiotics, ...
represent a significant role in how adolescents learn and employ social interaction. Impressionable adolescents regularly imitate the sign systems seen in the media. These
semiotic
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...
systems affect their behavior through
connotations
A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.
A connotation is frequently described as either positive or ...
,
narratives, and
myths
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
. Adolescents are shaped by the sign systems in the media they consume. For example, many young girls in the 1990s dressed and acted like the
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
, a pop band that gathered prolific and critical acclaim at the time. Similarly,
boy bands
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many ...
created a trend of many teenage boys frosting their hair in the early 2000s. With more exposure to the media and images of models, young women are more likely to conform to the ideals of specific body images.
Anorexia
Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...
,
bulimia
Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eate ...
and models smoking convey to girls that a feminine person is thin, beautiful, and must do certain things to her body to be attractive. A code of femininity (see
media and gender
Gender plays a role in mass media and is represented within media platforms. These platforms include but are not limited to film, radio, television, advertisement, social media, and video games. Initiatives and resources exist to promote gender ...
) implies today that a "true" woman is thin, girlish, frail, passive, and focused on serving others. On the other hand, the code of masculinity for a young males raised within the past several decades may include the ideals of profusely individualistic and self-sufficient natures, oft personified in film characters such as cowboys and outlaw bikers. The images, myths, and narratives of these ideas imply that a "true" man is a relentless problem solver, physically strong, emotionally inexpressive, and at times, a daredevil with little regard for societal expectations and the law of the land.
The never ceasing flood of signs, images, narratives, and myths surrounding consumers of media have the capability to influence behavior through the use of codes.
Codes
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
are maps of meaning, systems of signs that are used to interpret behavior. Codes connect semiotic systems of meaning with social structure and values. The idea of being judged on femininity or clothing relates to experiences later in life, including job interviews and the emphasis placed on reaching financial success.
Media consumption has become an integral part of modern culture, and has shaped younger generations through socialization and the interpretations provided for the signs and world around them.
Effect on public attitudes regarding crime and justice
![Law and Order SVU](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Law_and_Order_SVU.png)
Media consumption affects the public's perception of the justice system through the relationship of fear regarding crime, the perceived effectiveness of law enforcement, and the general attitudes about punishment for crime. The justice system has been consistently portrayed in mass media in negative tandem through the portrayal of criminals, deviants, and law enforcement officials, in turn affecting their overall perception by the public.
A 2003 study by Dowler showed the effects of media consumption influences public attitudes regarding crime and justice. In this study, a relationship between media and crime was found to be dependent on characteristics of the message and receiving audience, where substantial amounts of local crimes reported raised fear, while lower crime amounts lead to a feeling of safety. George Gerbner's empirical studies of the impact of media consumption discovered that television viewers of crime-based shows are more fearful of crime than those who are not consuming that type of media.
A study conducted by Chermak, McGarrell, & Gruenewald focused on media coverage of police misconduct, producing results where greater consumption of media portraying dishonesty amongst law enforcement led to increasing confirmation bias in the direction of the officer's guilt.
See also
References
Further reading
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Media diets of notable people
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External links
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{{Authority control
Mass media
Media bias
Reading (process)
Metaphors referring to food and drink
Information society