Creates a common bond, a shared experience between disparate people. Depending on the model, this can be a negative force for society.
Out side of football season, 15 of the 20 most popular programs on cable TV are wrestling. Is this "sports entertainment" or is this creating negative role models?
The ad on the right, and the one above, exploits a stereotype. This is an example of both negative linkage and a negative role model.
2) Enforces a social norm based on fiction rather than the "standard" values of society
Social critics fault television with creating artificial values and improper linkages. We relate the TV we watch to our own social lives. Unfortunately, life isn't like TV. So viewers are linking to social action outside the norms of society because of the persuasive powers of the media. People just don't act like characters on a TV show. We begin to think the social experience we see on TV is normal. We connect with TV personalities as though they are real, and expect real people to act like people on TV.
The subject of this Calvin Klein cologne for teens acknowledges the gap between the women he sees in the media and real girls.
Social critics in the 1920's and 30's made the same charge against the movies.
5) Entertainment
In the past, entertainment was F2F.
While some entertainment was private, much was either centered around the family or were social activities with personal interaction, often centered around church or school.
Film removed the personal interaction from the social activities. Radio and television made it a private activity by moving it into the home. Now, entertainment is a mass industry.
As our leisure time grows, the role of entertainment becomes more important in filling that time.
Positive Effects
1) Quality entertainment is available at a low cost to the user
2) Due to the increasing number of media channels, quality entertainment can be targeted to a narrow audience
The following article is a decade old, predates Spotify, yet accurately predicts a key future trend in radio.
"Currently, the most compelling online radio is interactive. Services like Pandora, Last.fm and Slacker
evaluate your musical tastes, then serve up a continuous stream of programming to match. They mix
familiar songs with new material you might like. They all do it by harnessing the technological forces of
social networking, data mining and music analysis, though each uses a slightly different technique."
This is an example of a high-quality niche channel.
Negative Effects
1) The quality of entertainment might decrease in order to reach the broadest audience.
2) Mass media is passive rather than active communication
Heavy consumers of TV participate in fewer activities outside the home. Viewing induces relaxation, drowsiness, and passivity. Metabolic rates drop during viewing, encouraging weight gain.
As the cartoon on the right shows, Calvin understands the passivity of the television experience.
Newer technologies provide for more interactively, though not face to face. The Internet can be used to join on-line communities of interest. Video and computer games can be highly interactive.
Sony fully understands the passivity of TV. This commercial suggests an alternative with Sony Home Theater.
This ad for Sony Playstation emphasizes the interactive nature of video games.
After you have finished Part 4, go to the Assignments page and do the Part 4 Canvas Discussion Board Assignment.
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