...Review Pressure to be Perfect Media has become an increasingly important aspect of today’s society. People interact with many different forms of media on a daily basis. Because of the frequent usage of media, it is reasonable to assume that it has its effects on people. The topic discussed in this paper is the impact social media has truly had on society. Focusing on the main factors that cause an influence to the general well being of people in modern society, this paper will discuss how the effects of media are determined and explore what is believed to be the two main categories in which media affects today’s society: mental illness and body dissatisfaction. In reviewing the literature on the different effects that media has on society as a whole, ten pieces of literature that discuss the effects that media has on the psychological well being of society will be shown, and that ultimately what is at stake in this conversation is the health of our society. In reviewing the literature regarding the health impacts of social media on society, the authors used in this paper discuss either mental illness or body dissatisfaction. Authors such as Dohyun Ahn, Sheri Bauman, and Sandee LaMotte discuss the mental illnesses in their articles (“Is the Social Use of Media…”, “Associations Among Bullying…”, and “The Health Risks of Cyberbullying…” respectively. The remaining seven authors who focus on body image and how it is influenced by the media can be separated by three subcategories...
Words: 1578 - Pages: 7
...Review Pressure to be Perfect Media has become an increasingly important aspect of today’s society. People interact with many different forms of media on a daily basis. Because of the frequent usage of media, it is reasonable to assume that it has its effects on people. The topic discussed in this paper is the impact social media has truly had on society. Focusing on the main factors that cause an influence to the general well being of people in modern society, this paper will discuss how the effects of media are determined and explore what is believed to be the two main categories in which media affects today’s society: mental illness and body dissatisfaction. In reviewing the literature on the different effects that media has on society as a whole, ten pieces of literature that discuss the effects that media has on the psychological well being of society will be shown, and that ultimately what is at stake in this conversation is the health of our society. In reviewing the literature regarding the health impacts of social media on society, the authors used in this paper discuss either mental illness or body dissatisfaction. Authors such as Dohyun Ahn, Sheri Bauman, and Sandee LaMotte discuss the mental illnesses in their articles (“Is the Social Use of Media…”, “Associations Among Bullying…”, and “The Health Risks of Cyberbullying…” respectively. The remaining seven authors who focus on body image and how it is influenced by the media can be separated by three subcategories...
Words: 1573 - Pages: 7
...Teen Pregnancy—A Social Issue After researching various statistics, I found that premarital pregnancy is quite prevalent in teenagers throughout the world. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment. The stress of how one would break the news to their parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task. People might think that they can help others, or one might be too embarrassed to search for help. For the most part, when one sees teenagers raising children, we often think that the teen has been raped or is too mature for their age. For this reason, some totally miss the issues that one must have been exposed to in their society, the society of their home, community, school. There are many viewpoints as to why teenage females are having so many children out of wedlock. However, the facts are obvious—teenaged females are highly influenced by many social issues, but those with the lack of strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive mass media are more likely to have a premarital pregnancy. As one travels the globe, they will find that industrialized and developing countries have distinctly different rates of teenage pregnancy. In the online article, “Teen Pregnancy on the Rise,” Sipokazi Maposa says that in developed...
Words: 3031 - Pages: 13
...THE STUDY The mass media, most especially television have gradually become a part of our daily lives, and sources of information, education and entertainment have been described as the primary functions of the media. Lasswell (1948) as cited in Folarin (2005, p.74) assigns three functions to the media: i. Surveillance of the Environment (the news function). ii. Correlation of the different parts of the Enviroment (the editorial function). iii. Transmission of the cultural heritage from one generation to the other (the cultural transmission function). The focus of the researcher in this study is not only on the entertainment function of the media, but the role the entertainment media especially television, plays in shaping social behaviour among teenagers in the society. Stephenson (1967) a British psychologist, as cited in Folarin (2005, p.170), divides man’s activities into work and play. The former involving reality and production, while the latter deals with entertainment, relaxation or self satisfaction. He further says that people use mass communication more as play than as work, more for pleasure and entertainment than for information and serious work. Folarin (ibid) corroborates this view by saying that one constant criticism of television in Nigeria is its focus on entertainment rather than on development purposes. There is no doubt that the impact of the media on young people’s lives is broadly considered within what is referred to as “media effects” debate...
Words: 17153 - Pages: 69
...Carel Bou Maroun Research Paper on Media ENG 203 – Layla Al Kadi Harmouch Introduction: Everywhere you go, you hear people talking about Media. Media is the plural of Medium. But what is a medium? A medium is a mean of mass communication. How can you communicate with a big number of people without what we call a medium, such as newspapers, television, or the Internet for example? Simply, you can’t. Media are elements that help to communicate messages. Any element. In a classroom for example, media are the walls, the board, and even the people inside it. The term mass communications alludes to any type of correspondence that at the same reaches a huge number of people, including yet not constrained to radio, TV, daily papers, magazines, bulletins, movies, record. (Wimmer and Dominick, 1983.) As we all know it, some media are more active and used than others today. For instance, we can think about televisions or mobile phones. But we all know that television is not the first technology used to spread messages. “Media are the result of technology.” (Avery and McCain, 1982.) Day by day, new technologies are emerging and the “old” ones are being forgotten. This is what our modern-day world looks like. It’s constantly changing, moving, evolving… The innovation and models for creating and conveying media substance are always advancing. (Croteau, David, Hoynes, and Milam, 2003.) Media are also socialization agents. You learn...
Words: 2901 - Pages: 12
...Madison Davis English Mrs. Petersen April 14, 2015 With the dawning of television, celebrity boundaries began to blur. In much the same way as if you were to remove partitions in a room where two distinctive social situations were taking place, television presented different groups of people with new perspectives of other groups that they otherwise would have never been introduced to. As television became widespread, groups began to mingle together due to the easily accessible and widespread programming, and the population combined. Although fame could be thrilling, losing all of your privacy, due to paparazzi, not only threatens your safety and sanity but creates unneeded drama and predominantly false accusations. The more refined television became, the more the world seemed to resemble direct interactions and para-social relationships formed (Meyrowitz, 1985). Television users rapidly began to feel as though they personally knew television personalities and cared about them in the same manner they cared about their close friends or family. Horton and Wohl stated that television never shows an ending that exhibits the actors coming out of their character, which often leads viewers into believing that what they view is truly the actors’ identities (Horton & Wohl, 1963). This perception created opportunities for photojournalists to capitalize on actor public engagement. Carl O'Connell stated. The origin of the name Paparazzo is argued, but its onomatopoeic resemblance...
Words: 1581 - Pages: 7
...The Mass media affects on Youths. Communication to a very large audience through mediated forms is a well known way to get an audience attention, especially a very large one. The Mass Media has a way of having an effect on all humans, but more so on our youth. It affects them more because television is the number one source to in formalize, from ads, to commercials, cartoons, even television shows. Mass Media is one of the seven contexts in the Communication field that reaches out to a very outsized audience. Television, I think is a hindrance to why youths are learning more about things in a broad and expanded world. “Of the many media sources, television programming is regarded as an influential source through which people acquire knowledge and learn about social behaviors (Collins et al. 2003)” For example, alcohol ads and commercials seems to have an impact of messages about alcohol contained within a youth-oriented television program. Complicating the issue is the fact that a television series can portray alcohol consumption as an overall positive experience or as a negative one. Some series, such as “Two and a Half Men” were found to contain a plethora of alcohol messages, a finding that causes concern, given the popularity of these series with young audiences (Posner 2004). Specifically, the theory/purpose is to assess the nature and impact of messages about alcohol conveyed in a television program popular with teenagers and young adults. “A stimulus-side...
Words: 808 - Pages: 4
...The Power of Media to influence youth Abstract: This study is based on one of the most common methods of qualitative research – Thematic Analysis. It highlights the extent to which print media is using sexuality to generate interest amongst the youth for a particular product or service. The study also focuses on the effect that mass media have on our youngsters. To prove this further, the theory of Social Reflection has been used as a tool which shows the kind of impact a particular message or an advertisement (in this case) will have on society. For this test random sampling method was used, fourteen random newspapers from 30th May 2002 to 10th November 2011 were taken as samples to conduct the test. The study has verified and there are enough grounds on basis of which it can be said that print media or media in general is communicating the messages in a way which has got huge impact on our young generation. Introduction: United Kingdom is facing a lot challenge because of increasing rate of teenage sex and the credit for this goes to media which openly portrays sexual activities. Apart from this United Kingdom is also worried about the rising health issues amongst teens who are highly vulnerable to media .Schools in United Kingdom have incorporated sex education as a subject to equip students with the needed information. Still teenage pregnancy cases are highest in United Kingdom. Only teaching sex education as a subject in Schools is...
Words: 1991 - Pages: 8
...Issue) Impact of Television Advertisements on Buying Pattern of Adolescent - A Study of Punjab Deepak Kumar1, Meenu Bansal2 1 Department of Media Studies, KC School of Management and Computer Applications KC Group of Institutions, Karyam road, Nawanshahr, Punjab 2 Department of Management Studies, KC College of Engineering and IT KC Group of Institutions, Karyam road, Nawanshahr, Punjab 1 depak.deep@gmail.com, 2m.bansal_mba@yahoo.com Abstract - TV advertisement plays an important role on consumer behavior but it is the most effective way to reach the adolescent and encourage them to buy the product. This study is aiming to study the effect of TV advertisement on buying pattern of adolescent by the effect of TV adds. The research was conducted in Nawanshahr district of Punjab. Total 5 Senior Secondary schools, each from Nawanshahr, Banga, Rahon, Garhshankar and Balachor were selected. A total of 250 questionnaires (50 in each school) were circulated among the respondents. Out of the collected questionnaires, a total of 244 questionnaires were considered fit for the analysis. Of these, 124 were male and 120 were female respondents. The result shows that TV advertisements help them in making familiar about the product and helps them in making buying decision. INTRODUCTION Advertising is the non-personal communication of the information usually paid for and persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media (Datta,...
Words: 3536 - Pages: 15
...girls’ ages 9 to 10, shockingly resulted in 40% of those young girls begin to lose weight. It is very damaging that the media has critical effects toward a women’s self-esteem, which may trail from adolescent age to middle age. Tall, thin, curvy and leggy with big breasts, flowing hair and toned bodies would be how you would describe a perfect ideal body, however that is not always the case. Over the past few centuries, Media has increasingly lead young girls into internal conflicts upon their image. From the latest TV shows, magazines and now the use of social media; Female celebrities exemplify this perfect ideal image. Adolescents visualize these female celebrities as their role models and begin comparing their own body image to theirs, forming discrepancy of unrealistic body shape. Bell states, Negative body image may be defined as the psychologically salient discrepancy between a person’s perceived body and their ideal body (479). This definition is the truth in what many girls experience when comparing their body shape to female role models. The photographs of models raise attention of unrealistic beauty being celebrated by the media, these models have airbrushed skin or effortless hair. However, we tend to forget that makeup, Photoshop and other special effects are what truly make up the model’s beauty. The beauty of models presented in the media is falsifying young girls into aspiring to become these biological...
Words: 1627 - Pages: 7
...Adolescent Sexuality and Modern Media ENG 122 August 5, 2012 Adolescent Sexuality and Modern Media Adolescents are greatly influenced negatively by media of today, whether that is adult television, music, or the World Wide Web. Our society is consumed by some form of media today, which could be the overabundance of reality shows on TV or by the use of Facebook which is exposing the youth to sexual content and innuendos. With the freedom of speech engraved into the United States Constitution, to ask that the media be regulated is almost impossible. Parents need to be held more accountable for what their children are exposed to, and if they are involved in some form of media that could be questionable, parents should have free resources available to assist in explaining the consequences of the negative behavior. Does today’s modern media truly have an effect on our adolescent girls and if so, in what ways. Girls from the ages of fourteen through 18 are doing unquestionable things today that you did not see in the ‘80’s. TV programming has taken an extreme jump from the simplicities of cartoons, comedies and sitcoms to the unregulated exposure of today’s reality, and its consequences. When one turns on the TV, channels that have been geared towards our younger generation, for example MTV and VH1, these channels initially consisted of music videos, have now turned into Pandora’s Box, with programming consisting of 16 & Pregnant, Jersey Shore, Basketball Wives...
Words: 2520 - Pages: 11
...hypodermic syringe model of the relationship between the mass media and the audience. (18 marks) There are a variety of sociological theories and evidence that suggests that the hypodermic syringe model has a relationship between the mass media and the audience however there also some flaws to these ideas. The hypodermic syringe model assumes ideas/ideologies transmitted in mass media products are automatically ‘injected’ into the minds of the audience for example a newspaper telling its readers who to vote for. The audience is seen as passive recipients. The hypodermic syringe model shows that we are a passive homogenous audience. The hypodermic Syringe Model (HSM) is an early theory model, which believes that there is a direct correlation between the violence and anti-social behavior portrayed in different media types (e.g. Television, computer games and films). Sociologists found that the most venerable audience to the HSM is children and teenagers. This is because they are still in the early stages of socialization so are therefore very impressionable. A prime example to support this theory is the case of Jamie Bugler. Jamie was a 2 year old boy that was abducted and murdered by two 10 year old boys. The boys had apparently watched 'Childs Play 3' before they murdered the toddler, and as the murder was very similar to the death in the film newspapers such as 'The Sun' created a debate to whether such violence in the media should be accepted. However, when the case was carried...
Words: 2001 - Pages: 9
...Media: Mirror of Society Everywhere in the world, society keeps evolving and changing. The thoughts, mindsets, and ideas of cultures all over the world are constantly changing due to the influences of what they see. The media has always had a role in the construction of an individual’s body image and ideal self. In the article “How does the media influence our thoughts on body image?” Kayhan, Baig, Mehmi and Basra argue that during the early 20th century the ideal, beautiful woman was 5’4 tall and about 140 pounds with a small mid-section; yet, for some if not most women, in order to achieve a small waist they would be put into a Victorian hourglass corset, which shrunk the woman’s waist to a much smaller size, we still see these tactics used by today’s women. This issue isn’t only occurring in the United States, it is a worldwide problem that continues to grow. The media uses the social elite, such as athletes and actresses, to advertise products and goods; the use of these models can have significant outcomes, both negative and positive, on individuals in our society. The positive being that viewers of these magazines that advertise skinny models and fit athletes may be influenced to change their lifestyle from unhealthy to healthy. The negative being that viewer’s want to take the quickest and easiest ways in order to achieve results, which can lead to dangerous side effects and habits. So the question is, is it even worth it to try to look perfect if dangerous methods...
Words: 2036 - Pages: 9
...User AvatarBy Official_DKW, Ypsilanti, MI More by this author Email me when Official_DKW contributes work After researching various statistics, I found that premarital pregnancy is quite prevalent in teenagers throughout the world. Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult experiences a young person might ever face when it interrupts school or other plans. It can create an emotional crisis resulting in feelings of shame and fear, and it may appear that you will crumble under pressures in your environment. The stress of how one would break the news to their parents might be even greater, and finding help may seem an impossible task. People might think that they can help others, or one might be too embarrassed to search for help. For the most part, when one sees teenagers raising children, we often think that the teen has been raped or is too mature for their age. For this reason, some totally miss the issues that one must have been exposed to in their society, the society of their home, community, school. There are many viewpoints as to why teenage females are having so many children out of wedlock. However, the facts are obvious—teenaged females are highly influenced by many social issues, but those with the lack of strong parental guidance, sex education, and positive mass media are more likely to have a premarital pregnancy. As one travels the globe, they will find that industrialized and developing countries have distinctly different rates of teenage pregnancy. In the online...
Words: 5919 - Pages: 24
...depths of high risk teenagers and risky sexual behavior. My inspiration for this project comes from my cousin personal experience with becoming pregnant of an early age young age due to her promiscuous behavior. My topic relates to the course content in terms of children at risk throughout my life arts project work I will provide an overview of research pertaining to adolescent's decision making, early sexual activity, and other risky behaviors, as well as describing the roles of parent and school on what they need in assisting teens in avoiding life altering decisions. The method that I will use is "How open are you" questionnaire that will pertain to my peers of which many are parents on how open are they in talking to their teens about sexual activity as well, as literature review. In my oral presentation, I will present my findings. The term risky behavior is almost always used in a sexual sense, implying behaviors and actions that increase the chance of contracting or transmitting disease, and the increase the chance of the occurrence of unwanted pregnancy. In today's society, sexual activity has become more prevalent amongst teenagers. This social issue has been argued by many, of the contributing factors that would cause teens to engage in sexual behaviors. The factors that contribute to these behaviors vary. Skimming though the channels on television, one may notice that the language, sexual content and themes for programs targeting teenagers have dramatically changed...
Words: 2085 - Pages: 9
