Impact of Media on Society: A Sociological Analysis

This paper analyses the manner in which the popular platforms of media are being used to shape the opinions as well as the views of the common people regarding the various political or educational events. It also analyses the harmful or adverse effects of such usage of the media along with the deeper theoretical considerations which underpin them.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
Sociology and Social Science
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

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Media can be seen as a diversified collection of outlets or tools which is used not only for
the mass storage of important information but at the same time for the dissemination of the same
relevant data or information (Bullingham & Vasconcelos, 2013). Thus, media is considered as
one of the most powerful means of communication in the developing as well as developed
countries. Media helps in promoting the right things just at the right moment of time while at the
same time it has the power to create a disturbance in society or among a group of people (Ellison
et al., 2014). Media helps the world by facilitating what is right and what is wrong. However, it
is significant to note that many people are of the viewpoint that the role of media is not to decide
what is right or for that matter what is wrong (Friesen & Lowe, 2012). The primary job of media
is to convey or deliver the news stories just as they are or more appropriately to make an honest
presentation of the things which have happened (Friesen & Lowe, 2012). However, it is
generally seen that seldom this particular thing happen and most of the news which reaches the
common public is adulterated taking the help of the concept of yellow journalism with the
inherent objective to gain a wider readership or viewership (Holt et al., 2013). This paper will
analyse the manner in which the popular platforms of media are being used to shape the opinions
as well as the views of the common people regarding the various political or educational events.
The paper will also analyse the harmful or adverse effects of such usage of the media along with
the deeper theoretical considerations which underpin them.
The technological advancements of the recent times have made the lives of the human
beings more interconnected than in any other times (Halpern, Valenzuela & Katz, 2017). This
can be seen in the same manner in which the process of globalisation has transformed the entire
world into a global village (Halpern, Valenzuela & Katz, 2017). Thus, it has become important
for the human beings more than ever to not only stay connected with the individuals from the

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different parts of the same nation and also from the different parts of the world and at the same
time to have relevant information about the things which are happening with them and also the
region to which they belong (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung & Valenzuela, 2012). Therefore, it would be
apt to say that the various forms of media like television, newspapers, internet, social media,
radios and others have become an indispensible part of the lives of the human beings. It is a
reflection of this particular fact that irrespective of the geographical location, popular media
helps people to stay updated and informed about the various social activities, events, news,
advertisements and entertainments (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung & Valenzuela, 2012). For example, a
person sitting in Japan can get all the latest news which is occurring in the USA or UK. Popular
media has a profound impact on the culture and society. Media itself breaks the barriers between
the societies among a group of individuals resulting in a phenomenon called globalization (Lin,
2017). Globalization is the proper explanation of how people are viewing the occurrences in
different nations. Thus, popular media actually acts as a mirror of what people do and if
effectively utilised can help in transforming the world as well. Also, media can be defined as a
storehouse of information and it educates each and every individual regarding the day to day
occurrences and the revelations. These data can sometimes be used to change and alter an
individual's sentiments (Esolz.net, 2018).
Media plays a major role in shaping the political engagement and involvement. It is a
fact that the millennials are ageing and their interest in the social issues and political issues are
on the rise (Qi et al., 2018). When elections heat up and more and more voters get involved, the
millennials to move alongside with the younger generations needs to stay updated as well as
informed and it is precisely here that the role of the various platforms of media gains special
prominence. As the millennials are reaching the prime years of their adulthood, staying informed

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and updated has become one of the important aspects of their lives. According to one of the
studies conducted by the American Press Institute, it has been found that about 69 percent of the
millennials get their news daily, while 85 percent revealed that staying up to date with the recent
occurring in somewhat important to them (Forbes.com, 2018). While it has also been found that
the news accessed by the millennials is different from that of the boomers. A study conducted by
the Achieve research agency called the Millennial Impact Project has revealed that during the
election years the engagement behaviours of the millennials change. The study also looked upon
how the factors like emerging candidates, race, age, gender, location and political affiliations
changed (Forbes.com, 2018). According to this study, it has been posted on the social media that
the millennials are 2.5 times more likely to be early adopters of the new technology in
comparison to the other generations. Thus, it is a commonly known fact that the social media has
played a bigger role and a majority of the millennials agree that integrating with the social media
has enriched their life (Rai, 2012). Also according to Adweek, the politicians are stepping up the
social media campaigns in order to influence the voters in a much more effective manner.
Estimations have revealed that the political parties are willing to invest almost 9 percent of their
budget on to the social and the digital media in an effort to engage with the millennials (Rai,
2012). Social media has the power to put the election at the fingertips of the millennials in the
United States. Thus it is important for the top candidates to take into effective consideration the
process of social media campaigning which is likely to help them to influence the millennials in
a much better manner (Bennett, 2018). Firstly, participatory is a new form of political movement
that both engages and encourages the millennials to participate in the discussions and the debates
as this take place in the social realm. The millennials are more demanding in comparison to the
national and the local governments and thus the politicians are more than a willingness to listen

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and engage with the millennials all the time. Secondly, the real-time conversations like the one
seen in Twitter have for many politicians have changed the political landscape. Twitter is
generally used as a platform for self-expression and management of news thus facilitating the
national and the local leaders with the opportunity to measure the sentiment of the millennials
like never before. Usually, the millennials had low participation but they can now feel included
and motivated to participate in the polls (Halpern, Valenzuela & Katz, 2017).
Social media allows the common man to view and participate in the political discussion
like never before. One of the best things about the social media is that each and every individual
has the right of expression and thus social media can be considered as a marketplace of ideas
(Larsson & Kalsnes, 2014). Also, it is important to highlight that some of the voices which are
not correct at all sometimes gets amplified. Keeping the communists perspective aside, the
people that reside in a democracy are assured that their voices will be heard through the
fundamental right “Right to Freedom of Expression of Thought” which the majority of the
nations of the world guarantees to their citizens (Larsson & Kalsnes, 2014). However, one of the
negative aspects is the fact that people often fail to take into consideration the logical aspect of
the news stories and only prefer to listen to the voice that they completely agree with. This
particular thing more often than not gives rise to the kind of news stories which are completely
paradoxical with reality and would have been better left alone. Thus, instead of taking up the
diversified public conversation, people end up being an echo chamber (Holt et al., 2013).
Over the years it has been seen that the politicians have become more and more active on
the social media. According to a writer in the Washington Post, it has been said that American
President Donald Trump has never spent a single 46 hours without tweeting (Forbes.com, 2018).
Thus, when the politicians use the social media, the politicians are able to grab the public

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sentiments, public constituents and are able to engage and understand their desires. According to
a survey by e-Marketer, 80% of the internet users in which majority are adults feel that social
media has some influence on the public policy decisions. Nowadays, the political leaders find it
useful to discuss a social issue and the associated public policies (Larsson & Kalsnes, 2014).
Social media slowly and steadily gained traction and credibility as an authentic source of
information and as a platform where educational organizations interact with the audiences
(Ellison et al., 2014). The educational institutions rely heavily on the social media platform to
connect with the different learning groups so that the education system is made convenient.
Social media provides the space for the students where they can connect with the experts and
start following the experts and gain the useful knowledge that is required for the process of their
education (Halpern, Valenzuela & Katz, 2017). Social media has the much-needed capability of
broadening up the various subjects and thus illuminates the contents that are new to the students.
Different institutes communicate with the students through Facebook, YouTube and other media
platforms (Friesen & Lowe, 2012). Information like important announcements, campus news can
be used to build effective engagement between the students and the colleges and at the same time
it also helps in the resolution of the various issues among them through group discussions.
Enhanced learning management systems (LMS) are the latest integration into the social media
platform and the various features include the lesson resources, sharing information through the
online forum, options to watch the video lesson and chat functions. The LMS facilitates the
instant interaction systems between the system and the users. This new systems promotes proper
student interaction and helps in easy collaboration in team projects. LMS also assist in tackling
with the student that have difficulty in learning and is beneficial for an institution at the same
time (Wang et al., 2012).

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Facebook is one of the major platforms of social media and boasts of more than 2.19
billion active users. Facebook is being used both for communicating with friends and families
members and at the same time for sharing information with people from different parts of the
world as well. Facebook thus provide ample opportunities for the present generation to share
information that they feel is derogatory for themselves and for the society as a whole (Lin, 2017).
Thus such issues are often posted on the Facebook and they are often shared by the friends and
families in turn. This is a cyclical process and after the Facebook post gets highlighted on the
other social media platform, an uproar and dissent occur within the people (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung
& Valenzuela, 2012). Such incidents often grab media attention and such news are shown on
televisions news channels, grabbing the attention of the politicians and the national leaders (Lin,
2017). Leaders too on the social media platform like Twitter and Facebook communicate and try
to connect and communicate with the people regarding a societal issue (Lin, 2017). Ultimately,
this result in a major social movement and such issues are taken up by the ruling party, finally
leading to the formulation of public policy.
Yellow journalism or pulp journalism is generally considered to be one of the banes of
the modern forms of media and for that matter of the entire process of journalism itself (Twenge,
2013). The process of yellow journalism can be defined as the process by means of which the
various news as well as media agencies try to create the kind of news stories without much
research for the sole purpose of catching the attention of the readers and the consumers of the
news stories (Twenge, 2013). Thus, it is pointless to say that there is not much ethical
consideration on the part of these news or media agencies during the process of the formulation
of these news stories and is directed solely to enhance the circulation rate of the media or news
agencies. However, it is significant to note that these kinds of news stories or media reports

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cause a significant harm to the human beings as well as the various nations of the world. It is
generally seen that the majority of the readers gets easily affected by the news or media stories
which they devour or come across without thoroughly analysing the authenticity of these news or
media stories (Wang et al., 2012). Thus, it is seen that a lot of unnecessary commotion as well as
confusion is being created which could easily have been avoided and are in most cases needless.
Social media inspite of the various advantages which it provides not only to the common
people but at the same time to the various news or media agencies is susceptible to the process of
yellow journalism (Twenge, 2013). It is generally seen that the various news or media agencies
often take the help of the process of yellow journalism over the various platforms of social media
in order to affect the behaviour as well as the lives of the individuals who take the help of these
platforms. The misrepresentation of the news stories or the wrong portrayal of them not only
keeps the people uninformed or makes them wrongly informed but at the same it is generally
seen that many people often end up make decisions on the basis of these news stories (Twenge,
2013).
The recent European refugee crisis is one of the highlighting issues that is being
highlighted on the social media as well as the mass media. Even though some of the European
government states were unwilling to let the refugees enter into their borders, a united effort put
up by the citizens of different European nations finally forced the government to change their
decision (Alencar, 2018). Thus, such an incident was highlighted in both the mass media and the
social media and the plight of refugees was sympathized internationally (Alencar, 2018). A
pertinent example of this particular fact is the media coverage of the Egyptian Revolution of the
year 2011 which was staged to protest against the autocratic government of the Egyptian
President Mubarak. The revolution received much attention from the media and in a way it can

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be said that one of the major reasons for the popularity which the incident received was because
of the extensive coverage which it received from the media (Egypt’s Revolution, 2018). For
example it was seen that most of the major media platforms like television, internet, Facebook
and others made an extensive coverage of the event. However, it needs to be said at this
particular juncture that most of the facts portrayed by the media for the coverage of this
particular incident were misrepresented with the objective to further enhance the usage of their
channels. Thus, it was seen that through the aid of the concept of yellow journalism Facebook
was able to boost its usage time and other media platforms also hawked on the opportunity
provided by the incident. Therefore, it would be apt to say that the media instead of fulfilling its
role of conveying the incidents which had actually happening took of the protest staged by the
people of the nation of Egypt to achieve their own personal ends. Another important example of
this particular fact is the media coverage of the Syrian Crisis which the nation of Syria has been
facing since the year 2011. It is significant to note that there are some people who have tried to
portray the national government of the nation of Syria in the right light whereas there are others
who have tried to show the people of the nation who have revolted against the national
government of Syria to be in the right light. It is a reflection of this fact that there have been
mixed feelings among the people from the different parts of the world regarding the ongoing
crisis in the nation of Syria. Furthermore, it is also seen that there are various people who are
taking the advantage of the platform of Facebook to achieve their own personal goals.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau famously said that “Man is born free but every where he is in
chains” (Holt et al., 2013). This particular statement of Rousseau becomes even more significant
when the current situation of the world is being taken into consideration especially in the manner
in which the fake news or the process of yellow journalism is dictating the course of actions

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undertaken by the people. Another significant insight was made by Jacques Lacan when he said
that the modern human beings are actually “the dupe of a discourse... [of] fictions organized in to
a discourse” (Holt et al., 2013). In the particular context of the 21st century this particular dupe
can be seen as the fake news stories created by the various news or media agencies as well as the
various individuals over the social media in order to affect the behaviour of the human beings
and also to create confusion and commotion (Holt et al., 2013). Furthermore, this particular
process when analysed through the particular lens of the ideology of Marxism would reveal the
fact that this particular process can be effectively utilised to gain control over the proletariats by
the capitalist class. Marx’s theory on the class structure and social class is one of the ways of
understanding socialism and capitalism or in other words the modes of production (Barbalet,
2015). In the capitalist society, there exists the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. However, there
also exists the peasant, landlords and the lumpenproletariat (Barbalet, 2015). The bourgeoisie is
the capitalists that are the owners of using the labour power, capital power and the purchasing
power. Whereas, the proletariat are the ones that own the labour power and has the ability to
work. They are the mere owners of the labour power that have no property and only work for the
sustenance of themselves and their families. Max Weber on the other had stressed on the social
stratification and it includes the concept that emphasizes the societal and communal action,
domination, power (Barbalet, 2015). Weber identified three aspects of class and it includes the
specific casual component with respect to the actors of the life chances, and this rests exclusively
on the wealth and economic interests, while this is represented under the commodity of markets
and conditions of labour (Weber, 2013). Emile Durkheim’s theory was different from that of
conflict theorists and she put forward a functionalist view that laid emphasis on the role of the

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social actors or the people. Durkheim believed that harmony defines a society rather than conflict
(Durkheim, 2013).
The above mentioned theories as well as the viewpoints held by the various socialists
clearly indicates the manner in which the process of journalism and the various platforms of
media can be effectively utilised to not only affect the behaviour of the individuals but at the
same time to dominate them as well. Thus, it can be said the tool of media is effectively utilised
by the individuals can act like a boon for them whereas if the same tools if not affectively
utilised by the individuals can at the same time become a bane for them as well (Wang et al.,
2012). Therefore, it is very important that the human beings should weigh as well as consider the
manner in which they utilise the various platforms of media and also the intent with which it is
being used by them. For example, it is generally seen that the process of yellow journalism is
being used by the various people not only to gain power as well as authority over the masses and
also to disrupt the status quo of the world as well.
Thus, from the above study, it can be concluded that the popular media, social media and
mass media have all played a major role in shaping the thinking and the choices an individual
makes. Social media in the present 21st century is deeply rooted into our senses. The increased
usage has not only hindered a person from gaining true human experiences but made an
individual to lead a solitary life. However, the positive effects to have a long-lasting impact on
the society as well. The societal issues and the problems often get highlighted which previously
used to go unnoticed and ignored.

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