Electronic Media In Brave New World

Chris Hedge’s article, “Our Country Is Lost Believing in What It Sees on Screens, and We Are Going to Pay a Nasty Price for It,” highlights the negative influence electronic media has on society. The author provides a realistic insight into the negative effects of electronic media. Hedges states, “It is the electronic image that informs and defines us. It is the image that gives us our identity. It is the image that tells us what is attainable in the vast cult of the self, what we should desire, what we should seek to become and who we are” (Hedges, 4).

The main objectives in chapter 9 include the ways media attempt to influence people’s attitudes, beliefs, and/or behavior, ways media technology can be disruptive and have adverse effects on behavior, the positive and negative influences of certain kinds of media, such as advertisements or reality television programs, on self-image. Even though media is a great outlet, media has changed our generation causing effects on self-image and human interactions. Because of its pervasiveness in American culture, the media affects people in both obvious and subtle ways. Modern media comes in many different formats, including newspapers, magazines, television, social media, etc.

Technology Helps Creates Social Isolation Peter D. Kraft Evans high school Technology Helps Create Social Isolation The effects that technology have on our society in which it can cause social isolation was observed in this paper. The book, Fahrenheit 451, relates to the point on how their society ended up due to their obsession with technology. Also, research found that people who use technology are proven to spend less time with other tasks like spending time with their family or even going to sleep. In contrast, an article argues that things such as social media and the internet help increase social interaction in real life because it can help us connect as one. Technology has always had an important role in our generation.

Media has gravitated toward the center of our culture over the years. Mr. Neil Postman writes in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, about his observation of the various forms of media throughout this nation’s history. Furthermore, Postman discusses has the media is shaping and influencing our culture. He writes about the idea that media has caused the world to lose focus of true information and inspiration. Postman’s thesis revolves around how the core values of media, such as news, have changed over the course of history.

In The Essay “The News” Neil Postman demonstrates the problems with News on TV and the Psychology behind it of why our society continues to watch. Postman displayed many points that becuase television news is must appeal to everyone in a short amount of time; the coverage is often shallow and gives a false impression of the world. Neil Postman describes the time restrictions of (22 mins) because of commercials overtaking the news. This reflects “The News” as we know it to become a big piece of entertainment that has nothing to do with the intellectual information that affects our lives. The lack of in-depth look on News nowadays draws an Appearance vs. Reality that the News isn’t what It should be.

Neil Postman in Chapter 1 of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" aims to show how the television can manipulate a person 's decision in politics, religion, education and turn those into entertainment. Even today Postman’s ideeas stand strong and it is true that if an information is entertaining the viewer will not look at the autenticity or what the origins of it are. Probably as expected, the more the technology advances, the more the manipulation from the television is taking place. This is done by: changing how people think, making their brain numb by not allowing them to have an opinion and interfering in their family life and in people decision-making process. The only way to save ouselves from living under the control of the television is simply

To begin, Bradbury argues that the overuse of technology, especially television, causes members of modern society to become ignorant and self-centered. Harold Bloom describes Bradbury’s warnings about the danger of technology: Technology, according to Beatty, is to blame for the oppressive world around them. Bradbury, through Beatty, is issuing a warning―that unchecked technological development, mindless thrill-seeking in media, and the political anomie of the majority, create in American society a drastic vulnerability to a progressive degeneration of its cultural and intellectual capacities, with a corresponding decay of its democratic political institutions. (29)

It’s evident that humanity has achieved seemingly impossible feats through technology and inventions; yet, it’s equally clear that technology can be a mindless distraction from unavoidable life issues that individuals try to escape. Though technology was intended for good, something people can benefit from, it’s become a quick escape for people so that they may easily sit and drool before a colored screen instead of applying themselves to something meaningful. Television and social media has hindered humanity because of its uselessness. It is an unnecessary addition to people’s daily routine that ultimately allows people to pretend to be involved in society, but in reality it creates a means to evade responsibility and endeavors.

One hundred years ago nobody heard about the news or current events from Facebook or the newest tweet. Until fairly recently the most up to date news had to be heard through the grapevine or read in a newspaper. Since the creation of the internet and the mass media that comes with it, information can now be spread all the way across the world in the time it takes to hit the enter button on a computer or phone and upload it to the internet. Some people think that this is a bad thing because so many things that are uploaded can be either false information or simply information that is misleading and could teach individuals the wrong thing. However, if mass media is used in the right way it can be beneficial to the accessibility of valuable information,

The Overuse of Television Kameron G Loyd BYU-Idaho  During an average week, how much television does the average child watch? Parents, educators, and concerned citizens alike would be appalled at the answer of 1,480 minutes (BLS American Time Use Survey, A.C. Nielsen Co.). They would also be revolted by the statistic that 54% of four to six year olds would rather spend time watching television instead of spending time with their fathers (BLS American Time Use Survey, A.C. Nielsen Co.). In 1984, Neil Postman saw how devastating television watching was becoming to the culture of America, and gave a speech to the literary community at the 1984 Frankfort Germany Book Fair entitled “Amusing Ourselves to Death” which deals directly with this monolithic issue. Although the speech and subsequent article, published in Et Cetra, were directed at the publishers, writers, illustrators, etc., all those who read this article can also benefit from Postman’s overarching desire to decrease the hours of mind-numbing television watching.

In the address “Vast Wasteland”, Newton Minow elaborated how television can influence the taste, knowledge, and opinions of all viewers. Minows address elaborates how “The power of instantaneous sight and sound is without precedent in mankind’s history.” (Minow), will have a tremendous amount of responsibility to go with it. Likewise, anything played on television should be to assist in making our nation better instead of advertising bad morals and inappropriate behavior. Minow realized the amount of power television has on people.

About an average of 32 hours and 47 minutes a week only Americans watch TV shows and 58 minutes a week watching things online (Schonfeld, 2012). Each day technology is developing and its becoming a big part of our society and our foreseeable future. A study shows that only 0.4% of the world population used internet in 1995, meanwhile 50.1% of world’s population used internet in 2016 (Internet Growth Statistics). People should be aware of the side effects of media, because teenagers get influenced by the things they watch and this could change the way they behave to certain things.

For years people have played the “blame game” with media and its effects on society. It has been questioned whether the media helps or hurts more in its overall impacts. The media consists of magazines, advertisements, TV shows, and social pages such as Instagram, SnapChat, Twitter, and Facebook, all in which society seems to be addicted to. The real question is, is having all of these sources of media positively or negatively affecting society? Some people blame the media for harming society by causing eating disorders and a low self esteem.

Media has become an integral part in society. The idea of media has changed throughout the century along with the change in media technology. Media went from print media to modern media that can be viewed via screen and now modern media can be controlled by the user/viewer itself. It is a powerful tool that can be accessed almost anywhere with a smart phone or computer and internet. Social media is a newer media that has changed the way in which society interacts, face-to-face communication changed to screen-to-screen communication.

Digital Media is any media that is enclosed in a machine and is a readable format. Anybody can create digital media, it can be viewed, shared changed and preserved by anyone on computers. Examples of digital media include; mobile phones, compact discs, digital video, digital television, e-book, internet, minidisc, video games, the World Wide Web, e-Commerce and many interactive media.