Chapter 14: Media Flashcards
(8 cards)
Mass media
Electronic or mechanical channels of delivering one-to-many communication
EG: Film, television, radio, newspapers, magazines
SOCIAL MEDIA
Means of connecting and interacting actively
a. Smartphones, tweets, texts, Instagram, email, iPads, MP3s, websites, etc.
b. Characterized by digitalization -> ease of manipulation, convergence, and speed
Uses and Gratification Theory
=> People choose mass communication depend on their motion so they will choose what feeling they need
Agenda Setting
Media used in selecting and calling to the public’s attention ideas, events, people, and perspectives
a. Can also divert attention away from some topics
b. Has Gatekeepers: a person or group that decides which messages pass through the gates of media to reach consumers -> Producers, editors, Webmasters, advertisers, etc.
c. How has social media (twitter, facebook, YouTube based news channels) changed the concept of gatekeepers? Do they still exist? Who are they?
Cultivation Theory
Television (or other mass media) promotes a worldview that is inaccurate but that viewers nonetheless assume reflects real life -> shapes beliefs about social reality
- E.g. the prevalence of violence in movies and television programs can make the world seem more violent than it is
- Achieved through 2 means:
a. Mainstreaming: stabilizing and homogenizing social perspectives
b. Resonance: the extent to which media representation match personal experience
Ideological Influence
Mass media function as tools to represent the ideology of privileged groups as natural and good
E.g. how are events and groups depicted in most war movies
Understanding Social Media
- Blurs Production and Consumption: people are simultaneously creators and consumers of information
- Alter Conceptions of Space: Communities and groups can exist across geographical divides -> new potential for “group making”
a. Also demands that we produce a separate “self” for this new space -> will be judged accordingly (e.g. fired for partying pictures on facebook) - Invites Supersaturation: can be overwhelmed by pure volume of information and social interactions
- Encourages Multitasking: Higher Productivity or More distractions?
Guideline to enhance your effectiveness with mass and digital media
- Unserstand the influence of media
- Access to media
a. digital divide: THe gap between people and communities with access to media
b. convergence: The integration of mass media, computer - Analyze Media
- Critially Evaluate media messages
a. puffery: In advertising, superlative claims for a product that seem factual but are actually meaningless. - Respond Actively
