NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MEDIA

NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF MEDIA

Introduction

This essay present negative impact of various forms of media and offers an argument of the impacts of media and how they affect human life. In today’s world, most people spend time in a variety of media types. In some people, it is a daily routine and has become aspects. This paper argues about the effects of media and other associated results in society. It discusses physical media such as books, magazines or newspapers, electronic media such as cable television and digital media like music, movies, and others. The negative impacts of media are evident among various social classes and age groups in the society.

Due to technological advancements, the digital media and other forms of media are shifting towards a global village which is adversely manipulated by the media. There are several forms of media which include hard copies such as newspapers and magazines, electronic media such as the internet, portable visual media plus other forms. Mass media in either of its forms reach a large number of people and substantially control their cultural activities specifically in the United States (Rosen et al. 364-375). Some of the content which is being posted online are fake content and are meant to spread propaganda which is meant to distort perceptions or create conflicts of interest. Such information is used to misdirect millions of people (Naz, A., Khan, A., Khan, W., Saeed, G., & Khan, N. 73). The malicious individual takes advantage of the internet as media to conduct criminal activities such as fraud and hacking. Various business organizations have lost large sums of money through internet hacking and other related activities. Digital media also can be used to promote pornographic and violence materials, due to the restriction of internet use, criminals and other evil individuals can use the media to spread and promote pornography plus violence.

Most of the American teenagers spend less time reading news or books but spend most of their time watching television listening to the radio and playing online games. Analysis of time that individuals spend on the media from research studies indicate that Americans spend 1500 hours of television, 1150 hours listening to music and radio and only 300 hours reading magazines, books, and newspapers(Ferguson, C. J., Muñoz, M. E., Garza, A., & Galindo, M. 1-14).

Every day after work or school parents and kids lay down on their couches watching television programs. Some of this programs display violence and sexual content which is not suitable for young individuals. Even some of the cartoon that kids watches displays episodes of violence which include gunshots, fights and other forms of violence (Kearney, M. S., & Levine, P. B., 3597-3632). The programs on the televisions influence human minds hence their actions, therefore, negative programs and propaganda lead to the wrong mentality among society members.

Most teenagers try to imitate the characters they see in media such as superstars. Such activities make them lose the sense of which they are thus resulting to lack of self-identity. Come content such as advertisements and email marketing is used to sway the minds of society towards opting their brands and choices.

Political leaders take advantage of media to fight for their dominance and achieve various self-interest goals. Political violence is subject to spread through the media than any other form of communication. Both published and electronic media are used to spread the fake news on daily basis on the society. Such efforts are meant to inform the society about false events (Perloff, R. M. 363-377). The images displayed in the media presents the world and people as perfect which make a lot of people to have a body image crisis. This makes some people feel safe when they imitate celebrities and other successful people. There are cases where people have done surgeries to resemble other public figures. Some people also feel confident about themselves when they are in a particular figure or shape of media icons; this makes many people develop medical conditions such as anorexia plus bulimia.

Media today display a lot of explicit content such as sex for viewers. Teenagers who are eager to explore their sexuality will be misguided by the influence they obtain from the media characters. Some of the events will make them be confused and make adventures that affect their lives negatively  (Dakanalis, A, et al. 997-1010). Media also influence people through detriments and marketing which lead to waste of financial resources. Media runs a lot of advertisements for various products which are meant to convince the audience to buy. A lot of people who are fun of media end up buying staff simply because of media adverts which are swaying and persuading the audience to opt for various products. The exposure to constant advertisements triggers people mind toward buying items. If such finances are invested in meaningful activities such as a business that will ensure their economic security.

A lot of people who spend quality time on media are overweight, this is because they spend a lot of time relaxing and not doing physical activities which are healthy (Starker, S. 553-586). A lot of people today prefer playing video games and PlayStation than go outside the house on a field and plays real football or basketball. This makes people waste time sitting down watching television, browsing the internet or reading a magazine. Such time can be spent positively doing constructive things such as studying or business.

A lot of people who spend quality time on media are poor performance in school or workplace. Electronic media such as movies or music are highly distractive and this results in underperformance in various places. Studies have revealed that a lot of students who spend most of their time on media are always failing in their classes. This is because media consume a lot of their time hence little or no time is delegated for studies  (Allen, K. A., Ryan, T., Gray, D. L., McInerney, D. M., & Waters, L. 18-31).

Illegal groups such as terrorists or criminals use media to connect, network, communicate and plan their activities. Most of the terrorist groups today use media to spread their negative messages to influence people and brainwash them into joining terrorism (Chassiakos, Y. L. R., Radesky, J., Christakis, D., Moreno, M. A., & Cross, C. 50). Violent activities of the terrorist groups are spread through the media. Such content influences people negative. The networking of criminal gangs through the media makes their activities to expand at the expense of the innocent people.

The technological advancements have led to production and services which are destructive to positive lifestyle and personality. A lot of people who seek attention uses the media platforms to gain spread their personal sentiments. There have been cases of individuals pursuing adventures of myths they get from the media which have ended horrible and victim dead of serving sentence. A lot of teenagers who spend time on media materials end up having distorted personality which is not inner desire (Frederick, David A., et al 171-174). In most cases, young people develop characters and traits which associate with what is interpreted by the media. In a constantly changing environment such as today’s, tools such as media which is very effecting in reinforcing one’s beliefs. Therefore media can be utilized for manipulation of populations understanding of message conveyed using twists in angles, level of coverage, facts, and opinions.

Poor restrictions and control on the media industry enable teenagers to be exposed to explicit contact which eventually penetrates their minds. Due to the inquisitive nature of children, some of them practices rituals and other destructive activities they obtain from the media. A lot of media content contains violence that makes people be destructive. Music videos and movies portray a lot of violence that poison human mind  (Boniel-Nissim, Meyran, et al 189-198). There have been reported cases of people losing life from experimenting on stunts. Music videos have explicit sexual content that makes young ones to be vulnerable to child abuse. Another aspect of an individual’s life such as fashion is highly influenced by media. Various media platforms can convey information that makes people make wrong choices. A lot of women in magazines and motion pictures dress in sexy clothes together with unrealistic body types. Such images make the teenagers believe that is right to have behaviors and some media content contains coarse language.

A lot of human habits are copied through the media; various media platforms portray various lifestyles with specific feeding habits, dressing codes, and other elements. A lot of people have damaged their body through surgeries to resemble top models and other uses food supplements to ensure they get into their desired shape. Some of the behavior imitated by media audience contain violence hence makes people be aggressive which makes people in their surrounding feel insecure. Media is used to blackmail various potential individuals and spread of information that degrades the public image (Radesky, Jenny S., Jayna Schumacher, & Barry Zuckerman 1-3). Some media content contains drugs and alcohol paraphernalia which influences youth into experimenting and eventually become addicted. Drug and alcohol are showcased through advertisement materials and various cultures which are shown in the media. If the public is informed through the media that a particular negative culture is good they will embrace it.

In today’s world media dictates a lot of stuff ranging from lifestyle, food choices to personal effects. Even though there are various laws governing media content and their access, society is still given greater control. Some of the governmental efforts to control the media content have not been successful because of various challenges. The challenges are supported by elements within the society the cultural impacts and changes brought by the media will affect future generations (Frederick, David A., et al 171-174). Technological innovations, make media content more portable and available in various formats for access. This makes the population be vulnerable to the negative impact of media in the home environment or workplace. Media contact is active and requires an audience spend the specific period time to access various content. This makes people lazy and wastes time which slows down economic development.

Media sources such as magazines, books, and television do not only provide promotion content but they also highly affect human mood plus attitudes. Information from the research of twenty studies which forty-three effect sizes was utilized to examine the influence of media messages on the viewers the results indicated the strong negative influence of individuals below nineteen years old  (Bernhard, U., & Dohle, M. 285-302). The stereotypes and obsession that in created on peoples mind through media include images that are damaging to the present and future society. Magazines used for showbiz display semi-nude models who have images which seem to be perfect A lot of men are struggling to gain muscles and uses medications to build them which have negative effects on human body and health. A lot of people who fail to fit the image of media personalities always develop low self-esteem and other negative behaviors. Low self-esteem spreads and dominates one’s personality which affects other areas of life such as relationships and achievements in life.

There has been a testimony of people which have changed their lifestyle by staying away from media and the results have been highly positive in various sectors of human life. Some people who have stopped watching television and opted for physical exercise and other activities have been able to recover from obesity (Dakanalis, A, et al. 997-1010).

A lot of Christian organizations use media to reach their audiences and spread the teachings of their religion. This makes the viewer be in constant touch with their spiritual self. Spirituality is central to human life and a rich one is associated with a healthier and longer life

Conclusion

This argumentative essay highlights the negative impact of media and related consequences in society. Media is used to spread propaganda, display unethical content which misleads teenagers, conduct criminal activities such as cyberbullying, stalking, fraud and hacking. Social media makes people be unproductive in society and a lot of people develop negative self-image due to influences of the media. Despite the media having a negative impact on the society, it also has positive results such as networking, spreading of information during emergency cases. Media is also rich with information which is used to expand our knowledge content in various settings. There are also politicians and organization that have used social media to conduct various successful campaigns throughout the globe.

Reference

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