Influenced by Media
In today’s times, we are exposed to so many things that can negatively impact what we do, the way we think, and how we act. Sometimes we subliminally pick up on behaviors from what we observe in the media and or entertainment industry. Unknowingly, we often act out or portray certain actions or characteristics that we learn from observing what we see. There is a lot of violence and crime displayed in social media/internet, in the movies and in video games that are played by our youth. Being exposed to such content at such a continuous rate can have non-favorable effects on any individual.
One particular way of picking up bad habits that is often portrayed in our society is through vicarious learning. This type of learning involves engaging in a particular negative behavior because an individual sees one’s actions getting rewarded. (Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2012) For instance, many of our youth often see rappers who are engaged in very illegal acts such as selling and doing drugs and/or engaging in very risqué behaviors in the media, and often wish to become like them. Kids cling to this type of behavior and lifestyle because they view it as being cool. They also see rappers making a lot of money and often times wish to model their behavior to attain the same infamous success.
The media and entertainment industry has the power to create thoughts of whatever’s intended. In addition, they somewhat have control over what issues are important or that we think about. (Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2012) This is called agenda setting. We see this all throughout the media. When we see images of what the media believes is beauty or how one should look, this is a way for them to paint the image that “skinny is beautiful” or that you should be a certain skin color to feel pretty. In addition, the media has the power to instill fear and/or dependency. Our culture today is obsessed with what’s on the internet, what’s happening on social media, and the latest source of entertainment. It is often hard to deter away from such things which makes it easy to be influenced and impacted by the media.
Overall, it is good to have balance and to always put things into perspective. Media has its good qualities, but it can also be used for bad. We must limit the time spent surfing the web, watching violent films, or playing crime inspired games so that we are not subliminally controlled or influenced by the media.
Works Cited
Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2012). Applied social psychology: understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.