Mass media plays a very important part on the lives of people in the society. The people have been relying on its capability to inform, entertain, and provide all the necessary and unnecessary information that the individuals need in order to survive. Apparently, the people cannot deny the benefits that they gain from using the media sources for different purposes. In fact, its influences in the society have been evident not only through the development of the world in terms of technology but also through the culture and perceptions that the people have nowadays. Media exposures show that media consumption has measurable effects on the perceptions of the society. The people use media information and their actions, judgments, and attitudes are unconsciously being affected by the media messages. The society have been showing too many evidences of media effects; however, the people seem to recognize the benefits of media sources more rather than the negative impacts that it brings to the public. Each media concept has a target audience and the effects vary depending on the level of involvement of the audience and the status of a certain cluster in the society. Apparently, the modern media has been targeting the cluster of the society which can easily be reached and influenced—the young generation.
The benefits that the society gets from mass media have undeniably led to the heavy reliance of people to media for information and entertainment. While the society perceives the media information as either real of important, the media shapes the values and culture of people into an entirely new concept that always end up to the conclusion that the world has been changing because of advancement in terms of technology. From selling goods to giving salient issues, the people can rely on the power of mass media. The heavy reliance of society to media may had been evident in the lifestyle of the mainstream; however, the information that the society keeps nowadays constantly change molding the psychological and sociological aspects of the next generation.
Media Images on 20th Century
As the world conforms to modernity, the media images have been constantly changing giving the people new ideas and information in fashion trends, technology, and current events. The media sources keep on providing information and the people stay connected with the media information not only to be updated with the changes but because of the availability of resources that would connect the people and the media regardless of their location. Today, media is far different from the media that people have known in the past century. The television shows are more advanced and the films and advertisements show evidences of development in terms of media tools and concepts. Consequently, the society get use to seeing new concepts everyday and the post modern world leave the people with no choice but to conform in order to survive.
Even though the society has been criticizing the media for the offensive images that media portrays, the mainstream still relies on the information that media could provide for them. Media sources boomed not only for entertainment but also for commercial purposes in twentieth century. From business to entertainment, the media has been the source of information of any cluster of the society. Today, the young generation can be seen on media source endorsing consumer goods or promoting services to the society. While some teens appear to be wholesome, some, on the other hand are being criticized for negative underlying messages to the mainstream. Some media sources portray the fun of being a teenager in this modern society and some messages convey a message that the young adults are the hope of the future generation. On the contrary, there are films and television shows that portray aggression and violence. The advertisements portray images of thin and skinny young women who endorse products to the market. The modern youth are being perceived as materialistic, socially aggressive, and partying individuals because of the images that the mainstream sees on media sources.
Teens on Media
The youth appear on media in many personalities. Even though not all the media concepts are offensive, the messages that are being conveyed on media sources affect on the perceptions and development of the young individuals. Apparently, teen’s portrayal has also become the representation of this cluster in the society. The mainstream perceives adolescents based on what they can see on media sources. In this modern world, the young adults are viewed as violent and socially aggressive because of the image that the mass media is portraying on television shows, films, and even advertisements. The advertisements show thin and skinny young women in order to prove to the target market that the products are effective and persuade them to purchase the items that are being offered. The films portray sexually active and socially aggressive young adults who love dating and hanging out with friends. Moreover, this portrayal often gives the society an idea about the teenagers which can be either lacking with information or exaggerated.
In recent years, girls have been increasingly portrayed in everything from serious journalistic studies to light comedies like “Mean Girls” as tyrannical, bullying, and devoted to a ruthless caste system. This focus on the “queen bees” of female teenage friendships seems to dominate film portrayals of girls, when, in reality, this stereotype of the “mean girl” does not reflect the true variety in female friendship roles and the positive attributes of these friendship networks. Moreover, although academics and the popular media have long focused on the harmful effects of teenage, female social aggression, the upsurge in the popularity and production of teen movies seems to have increased the attention to the negative features of female friendships (Morawitz & Mastro, 132).
This kind of portrayal is just one of the many types of teenagers on media. The advertisements for the new technology gadget show a group of young adults who already have the item and convince the other teens to buy the certain item from the retail stores. Some teenagers appear on films as arrogant and violent against their fellow teenagers. Teens on media appear as the dysfunctional sector of the society because they are only concern to get different hair color, tattoo, or body piercing done. Teens have also become the subject for gangs and drugs issues in the society. On television and films, the young adults have been portrayed as individuals that would rather attend to social occasions than to pay attention to the national controversies. The marketers are targeting the young adults in every product that will be introduced in the market because of their capacity in adapting to new items and their ability to easily get acquainted to new technologies. The business firms often create products for the society and set the teenagers as the major target market because of their spending power and independence in consumption (France, 117).
Everyday, thousands of marketers and performers enter in the house of a family in media source form. Most of the pages of magazines or television screen show images of a certain cluster that would either develop or change the perceptions of the society. The skinny images of women in the films and advertisements have been the standard image of women in this post modern society. While some teens are being portrayed on media in a way that people would look at them as innocent sector of the society, the negative portrayals still remain making the public treat the young adults as dysfunctional in the community. The teenager’s outlet to express their opinions and emotions has made the public perceive teens as rebellious. Moreover, the images of teens in media sources do not only represent the teenagers as a whole but even dress the children that will be included in this sector that would serve as the next generation.
The Effects of Media to Young Generation
The teenage years are characterized by the time of relationship and identity growth. This is the stage where the adolescents conform to be fit in the society. This is also the period wherein the young adults struggle for own identity and independence. Teenage period is the time when that the young adults can be highly influenced by the messages and information that the world is providing for them. They talk and act based on how the society trained them to be and the media has undeniably played a big part on this teens’ social development.
The society often identify teens based on how media portray them on films, televisions, and advertisements; however, the society often fail to recognize the external factors that often affect the young adults to act exactly opposite of how the society expects them to behave. The representation of adolescents in movies often creates an idea that companionship among teens may turn to a socially aggressive and mean personalities of every young individual. The adolescents’ media portrayal is also perceived by the society as the representation of the true nature of young generation. Other teenagers may also find the acts as offensive but they may find those actions as acceptable because of the way media represented it in the films and how society reacted on this unrealistic portrayal. The worst effect of modern female friendship portrayal would occur in every young individual who thinks that being mean in the post modern society is part of reality. The young adults that are currently in the stage of struggling for identity growth would accept the concept of social aggression as a key to be fit in the society.
Apparently, this can be considered as societal problem not only because the mediated world are being adopted by the young generation but also because the images of teens are being mediated in the post modern society. This representation of young adults in modern media may be an opposite of traditional portrayal of teenagers; however, it may also serve as new identification that could be associated to teens today and to the teens of the future generation. Surprisingly, the image of young individuals has somehow changed over time; the teens easily conform to modernity, but this portrayal may seem offensive because of the exaggerated representation of adolescents especially to the children that will be included in this cluster of society in the future. The different types of teens may appear on media; however, the perception that the society have for each portrayal would still determine how the people view the young generation.
The statistics – 162 million TV sets on seven hours a day, 260,000 billboards, 23,076 newspapers and magazines — are only a small part of the story. More significant is the way a media event can bring national life to a screeching halt — a war half-way round the world, congressional investigations, natural and human disasters. In each of these public events, the television camera is not just a neutral recorder but a major player providing the powerful images that shapes not only our perception of the events, but the events themselves (Silver & Thoman).
The worst problem that the society may encounter on this portrayal is the diverse characters of the youth because of the unrealistic images on media. These unrealistic images may shape the young individuals based on how their cluster is depicted on media sources. As the teens conform to these portrayal, their minds also function based on how media presented the concepts to them and to the entire society.
Aside from the false depiction of media, the youth also learn to adapt the information and messages that the media provides for them. They view world based on how media portray it on television and films. The teens rely on media for information that the society does not give to them. In other words, the media has become the easiest way for the youth to learn the things that are only limited in the society. The real-world experience is provided by media and the youth learn to adapt and use those messages to be able to survive in the modern society.
The Young Generation: A Reflection of the Modern Society
The society plays a very important role in the development of the youth. As the children grow older, they learn based on what they can see and hear from the people around them. Since media has been part of the society, it also helps in shaping the youth to be mature individuals in the future. However, the images that the youth see on media create different meaning and mold them to become different individuals that the society wants them to be. In other words, the media does not only give the youth enough information to grow in the society but also dress them based on media concepts alone. Aside from media portrayal, other images also create illusions to the young minds of the adolescents. From news media to advertisements, the messages create meanings and the youth store them in their minds.
The existence of media in the society falls into the responsibility of media on creating ideal body image which often leads teens’ unhealthy practices to lose weight to be thin and skinny. The amount of excessive violence on television, films, and video games increases aggressive tendencies in young individuals. The amount of celebrity hype on media causes irrational demands for designer clothing and accessories. The exposure of unhealthy habits on media like cigarette smoking, unprotected sex, drugs using, and alcohol encourage the teenagers to try and permanently get involved to these habits. The constant release of high technology products make the youth think that those things are important in order to survive in this post modern world. As a result, the young adults conform to the influential demands of the business corporations that continually develop products and release persuasive advertisements targeting the young generation.
Most viewers (even young children) know that they are watching fiction, that made-up stories have been produced by writers, actors, directors, technicians, etc. but no matter what happens in the foreground of the story, at the level of the surface plot, viewers demand (and expect) the background to be realistic—that is, to fit conventional criteria for what is considered to be “realistic”. That background offers viewers a continuous stream for facts and impressions about life and the world (Shanahan & Morgan, 22).
The youth rely on what the society teaches them and what the television created on their minds and those messages are not only facts but also ideological assumptions and associated values which permeate the most stable and pervasive images of television drama. The assumed realism of the background is critical process regardless the degree of perceived reality that the youth bring to bear on their viewing. In this manner, the youth or the viewers in general often disregard the fact that they are watching a made-up story and believe on the images despite the willingness to suspend the disbelief. With the use of narration and actions against a highly realistic background, the story on mediated world shapes the minds of the youth to conform to the pattern of events and treat those events as realistic.
Even though the youth are aware that what they can see on media are part of script and concept in particular, the messages still create meaning that the young adults use to evaluate the meaning and to express the opinion regarding a certain issue. The media images become part of the perceived reality of the youth and the social construction on media is being treated by the young individuals as the real meaning of the real world. Eventually, the youth gain knowledge in different ways and different persons in the society; however, the media still remains the most persuasive tool to teach them and let them learn regarding a certain thing. The concept of real world has been mediated and since media is the only accessible form in making the young adults learn the information that has been limited in the society, the young generation accept and believe in the constructed reality through messages that are being conveyed on all media sources. Mass media is unquestionably influential not only in selling goods to the consumers but also in shaping the minds of the young generation toward salient issues.
Works Cited
France, Alan. Understanding Youth in Late Modernity. USA: McGraw-Hill International, 2007
Silver, Rosalind. & Thoman, Elizabeth. 2007.Starting Point: Today’s Image Culture and Why Media Literacy Matters. 9 April 2009 <http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article100.html>
Morawitz, Elizabeth & Mastro, Dana. Mean Girls? The Influence of Gender Portrayals in Teen Movies on Emerging Adults’ Gender-Based Attitudes and Beliefs. USA: Spring, 2008
Shanahan, James & Morgan, Michael. Television and Its Viewers: Cultivation Theory and Research. USA: Cambridge University Press, 1999
