Effects Of Media On Society

What are the Effects of Media in Society? Imagine walking down the street of a large city. Looking up, there are screens that show different types of ads. Whether a video or picture, it is displayed for all to see. Looking forward, there are cars, busses, taxi cars, and other transportation vehicles with the same type of advertisements. The people walking on the street are either talking on their phones or looking down at them. Their phones have several different types of ads, communication tools, and social apps. All of these are considered to be media; with media all around us today it affects the way society works. According to Google definitions, “media” means, “the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet),

One of the changes happening in homes is that family units are being changed. Whether for the better or for the worse is a personal choice. In the past it was uncommon to see parents of the same sex. Today it is not uncommon. Media had a great impact on this change. Through newspapers, magazines, television, and social media seeing same sex relationships is not rare. Along with the unit of a family being changed, the expectations have been changed. All over media, families are seen in large nice homes. In several forms of media it has been “suggested” that having a large or nice home makes a family happy. In Linda Holtzman explains, “On the one hand, most of us know and can articulate that the programs we are watching are fictional; yet we often believe and internalize the invisible messages we are receiving. This same process occurs as we listen to popular music or watch a feature film” (3). There are hundreds of television shows with all sorts of family in it. All of these families are unique in their own ways but similar in some ways. For example, a popular show in the past

A part of media includes advertising. This has increased the expectations on appearances. In advertisements attractive men and women are used. In the article, “The Media and Body Image” it explains that the average clothing size for models to wear is two or four whereas the average American woman wears a twelve or fourteen. Many models are put on a strict diet and fired if they go over a certain weight. An example of this is Victoria Secrets. Their models have a strict guideline that includes; 34” bust, 24” waist, 34” hips, minimum height of 5 foot 9 inches, and a maximum body fat percentage reading of 18%. Without a strict diet, exercise, and luck of the gene pool it is very rare to find many women with these qualifications. For male models their body expectations are also so important. One male model, Oliver Cheshire, explains in his blog that even something as small as a haircut can cost him his job. He says, “A few inches off the side could cost you a huge ad campaign as you don’t know who’s considering you based on images your agent has sent to them based on a particular look”. After all of these “attributes” listed for the models there is a great amount of editing or photoshopping. Models are “touched up” making skin more smooth, teeth more white, muscles more defined, faces are sharpened, and any other “flaw” that can be found is fixed. Then the advertisements are published for all to see. When