The way of how electronic media has reshaped society around the world is been analyzed in Jeffrey Sachs’ essay appeared in the Project Syndicate Magazine as cited in The McGraw-Hill Reader (2011). The media, in general, is used for a specific purpose from printed media like newspapers or magazines through radio, television, and Internet. However, the audience selects the way and the contents according to their needs, there are those who prefer to be informed and others who used them for fun and entertainment.
In the United States people watch television and use Internet media a great deal and, yes, have ecome a nation of “vidiots”. However, television and similar video streaming devices provide valuable information if used in the right way. Lately, television and media have been growing continuously. At first, it all seemed a strange new world that some people decided to explore. Today, for many this is part of their everyday lives. But have people stopped to think at some point, the advantages and disadvantages of TV and media use, and how they spend their time.
The pros and cons are personal and professional. If a person does not have a profile on Facebook or does not post a picture on Instagram, or has not een the last season of Games of thrones among many other series is out of place and even more if we talk about young people. However, the truth is that every day more people join this world because social media and television represent what they would like to be or they can assume different roles of their reality. One of the advantages is the speed which people learn the most important news of the day.
People are constantly informed about the world news because according to the Statista portal nearly 15. 2 billions of households owned a TV worldwide in 2017. An event that began in the 70s when color elevision emerged and sales increased causing an increment in demand and the possibility that must sectors of society had access to it. In many cases and increasingly often news channels, newspapers and common people obtain the headlines of the day from social networks and then publish them in their way, radio, paper, and TV. Television has a number of characteristics that influence people.
TV is extremely expressive because it is based on the image with color, music, present reality and movement. This is a very effective way to internalize the messages because it’s more attractive to the iewer and get directly into the people subconscious. Another positive aspect of television and social media is that individuals learn from other people, from hobbies to professional matter. People can access all kind of tips, guides, interviews, tutorials, and manuals that help them in their daily lives, either to prepare a professional presentation to prepare daily recipes for their family.
They also have shaped our way of dressing, speaking and acting through the publicity and stereotypes of people and types of life presented in their programming. Advertising is a way to sell through commercials. At every moment, while watching TV people are interrupted by advertising without choice. People have to assimilate commercials even if we are not interested. Advertising shows us a whole world of products that are shown in a certain way that people believe that while using that product it would change their way of being.
It tries to attract the audience with stereotypes of men, women, children, lifestyles, or even superheroes, etc. It creates false needs in people, making them believe that happiness and success are achieved by the majority of those products like the ones that are for eight loss; and if they do not consume this or that product, it would create frustration. As everything in life, Television and social network also has disadvantages. All excesses are generally not beneficial. The overuse of television and media are in my opinion the biggest problem.
Media have become part of individual’s life; however, people have to think that the issue is more complex than it seems, and media functionality should be giving according to what they need. The problem is not the media itself, is the way people use it. People have to realize the difference between use and abuse. Sachs called these people in The McGraw-Hill Reader (2011), “vidiots”. Sherry explores in her book, Alone Together (Turkle, 2012) the ways media are changing how people relate to society, their family, their partner, and friends.
She gives a sense of how strange individuals’ everyday lives are, how far they have moved away from enjoying each other’s presence. The thing is that it has become such use that people give more importance to it instead of use that time to encourage other key aspects of their social and personal lives. Lately, reports showed this are one of the ew causes of divorce. “A new study found a correlation between media use and divorce rates in the United States” (Rosenfeld, 2014). Couples lost their intimacy because it is now a rule have a TV in the master bedroom of every couple.
Even in the bedroom, the couple talks in bed watching the television or often stays on while they perform the act of love. “The study’s authors reasoned that individuals in problematic relationships may be turning to social media for a support system, thus explaining the link between their increased usage and marital problems” (Rosenfeld, 2014). Most adults, especially elderly people use television for lack of company so they do not feel so alone and many others use it because they like to identify with the actors’ life and problems represented in there.
Likewise, previous studies have shown that the more TV people watch, the more likely they are to gain weight. Gortmaker, Ph. D. ; et al stated, “We observed a strong dose-response relationship between the prevalence of overweight in 1990 and hours of television viewed”; (1996). Nowadays, children have televisions in their rooms at early stages in their lives. Parents are using elevision, iPad’s or smartphones to calm down their children instead of letting them been kids. Even babysitters used those methods to babysit kids.
They reinforce the use of it on children that only learning and making this a habit and a normal behavior. While I compare my childhood with today’s kids I see a big difference. While I was I child I constantly went to the park like many kids. When we were together we play hide and seek or different games that involve movement. Today kids keep watching TV or playing online with their friends through PlayStation, Nintendo or IPad’s games. That makes people more nactive and more vulnerable to be overweight or obese. TV habits that are done from an early age can lead to a life of weight problems.
In conclusion, the role of television is positive, receiving images from all over the world, expand our concepts of man and his culture. But most of the time the influence is negative, the lack of communication in the homes, the violence, the consumerism, are some of the consequences that the television has. Adult people are autonomous of their decisions. They have the obligation to educate not only the children who are the adults of the future, they can teach and educate the dults around them like their family, friends, coworkers and anyone with whom they relate with their actions.
Values and respect are taught at home and are encouraged in schools. They must emphasize the proper use of the TV and media and the information handled in them and aware people to avoid become a “vidiot”. They must establish limits on the time they spend watching TV and surfing on Internet and what it is for. Is real that people try to simplify everyday life in partnership with technology with so many applications through their smartphones; nevertheless, they have to moderate the