Research Paper on Mass Media: Constructive or Destructive?

Introduction

Mass media are technologies aimed at dissemination of the information in more massive population coverage. It also implies that the convey of the information to the masses of the people intending to send or transmit well-decoded information. Communication and message sharing, therefore, in one way or another may influence the world in different lines creating divergence of the cultures and human behavior. Media can also be constructive or even destructive, depending on the information aired to the audiences. The impact of the information shared thus depicts the change that is about to be caused in societies as well as in individual persons. The world has ventured so much in technology to lead to successful information sharing effectively. The paper, therefore, will focus on the different concepts of the social media, technologies used as well as the effects they cause in the society. The main ideas of the mass media include the channels of the media, the message, the culture, technology, and finally, the effect of the communication. Regarding the concepts in mass communication, therefore, will entail all procedures, audiences, channels, and its impact on the general society.

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Media Technology

In social media, different software is used to develop and convey information. The information transmission, therefore, is the crucial thing that the software provides. It is an interface that allows individuals to compose and share information. However, other media technologies do not allow the transmission of the information and only help or assist an individual in writing and organizing the information in a more representable way. Such media technologies include the printers that provide a hard copy detailed information that can be potable and shares among the people in terms of the newspaper and magazines as well as books or rather articles. Media technology aids or helps in managing the information disseminated in the form of the video, image, composition, or even audio. Several devices are used to facilitate communication. They include mobile technology, Television technology, radio, and computer.

Mobile phone technology is one of the devise or hardware that has effectively assisted the media in growing and fulfill the purpose of communication. The devices provide an interactive interface whereby the user or the sender of the information composes a different message that he or she disposes to the audience (Gillespie, Boczkowski & Foot, 2014). The mobile phone allows transmission of the audio, video, image, and written soft messages. The device supports different social media platforms that include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp, and internet website programs. Facebook is a platform that significantly leads to the interaction of different people from the globe. The account connects people from a different regions. The information sharing is done by posting a composed message, image, or even a video. It allows the commentary bit that offers effective communication and the spread of the information across the friends linked by the account. Similarly, the twitter platforms provide a secure means to disseminate the information to all the audiences that follow the sender's account. That way, information is aired in a short while, thus reaching the audience at the right time. The spread of the data is therefore vigorous, especially when shared by the others to their follows. YouTube is a platform that enables sharing of the audio and video information. The platform also offers entertainment that changes the behavior of the audience, depending on what is shared.

Television is a visual representation of the video information that both offers both entertainment and news reporting. The device is a social media channel that has excellent coverage of the audience. The device helps the journalist to collect information from different sources and regions to disseminate it to the TV wave's coverage areas. The news reporter presents the current situations happening day by day as well as creating an informed population about the digressing world. The device, therefore, is crucial in conveying information that is relevant to the audience. Its presentation and the development thus creates a growing influence of the masses that follows its visual display and its information.

Radio device and its system is a media technology that has persistently produced and composed audio conveyed messages that may be entertaining or even news. The radio presenters also work almost similar to TV journalists; however, their representation is not visual. It is usually spoken, or audio convey. Through radio waves, the audience is able to learn about what is happening in a specific region that the waves cover (Gillespie et al., 2014). People can also make audio adverts as well as entertainment for money gains. The social media aspect is therefore portrayed in the light interaction of the audience through radio Facebook pages as well as groups. The main objective of the radio channel in social media is to offer and convey the breaking news among the target audience.

A computer is also a media technology hardware that provides an interactive platform for both internet services as well as other services such as Facebook and Twitter. The device facilitates effective communication or rather conveys information from one person to another or a group of people. For instance, through the internet, people can connect with others by creating websites that can be regularly be visited by people who deserve the information within it. The information-sharing, therefore, becomes essential to the audience through internet sharing facilitated by the device. A computer also strengthens faster access to information that is both educative as well as destructive. Therefore it is upon the audience to choose the right information he or she deserves.

Media technology, therefore, is one of the vital components of mass communication that both enables access to information as well as sharing. The digital sharing channels offer the audience an opportunity to learn more from the media and also get it at the right time. The integration by the latest technology makes it easy for individuals to access information right from where they are unlike ancient times when a message had to be sent through postal mails or even a massager to be received.

Functions of the Social Media

Social media and communication technology perform different tasks in the dissemination of the information. It enriches people with knowledge, informs, educates, and finally, it entertains the audience. It helps the audience realize the information that is crucial and important to them and that they do not require. Business people also use social media in the advertisement of their products and services. Regarding the information, it is the central aim of mass media and communication.

Audiences get informed through social media that depict their way of handling situations and all hiccups that they face. The social media enlightens one into a deeper fathom of all activities and integration that is occurring within the world. People get educated on different approaches concerning life, thus enriching them with knowledge. It also provides information that helps the audience to grow a critical mind that enables him or her to make concrete decisions. Generally, information becomes power; thus, through social media, people can gain power in knowledge.

Social media and communication are used in influencing and persuasively winning people's decisions depending on the represented offered by the sender of the information. For instance, for the people campaigning for political seats, social media becomes a useful tool to sway the public and persuading them to develop a positive perspective towards the aspirants (Pinker, 2010). Also, business people develop a persuasive way to convince and win clients in purchasing their products. Different people also use social media to persuade their government in delivering their projects and the promises that they had for its citizens.

Social media also offers platforms through which entertainment can be achieved. Most comedies, as well as musical entertainment, are always aired in the social media to make sure that the audience enjoys in their free time. To some extent, social medial and communication technology leads to the development of the groups that compose the comedies with an aim to market them how the audience ends up being entertained. Dramas, music, games, and TV shows leave the audience in a position to enjoy social media (Hoffmann, Werner & Zhu, 2019).

Through the display of individual's information as well as dissemination of crucial information around the globe, helps the researchers gather the information that is essential for their surveillance. Social media, therefore, provides a proper examination of the people's economic welfare, social status, and political perspectives, thus an accessible study of the life welfare of the people. Social media enables the security department to keep track of the criminals as well as exposing them to the action measures or rather the arrest. Social media, therefore, provide the basis of the research, investigation as well as study of the population, especial through internet platforms.

Through social media, directives can be achieved as well as correlations. Social media provides the sender of the information with a chance to instruct a particular target group on what to do or even procedures to follow. Therefore the information convey enables effective regulation and order to a specific group of people to reduce shortcomings in their daily operations. On the other hand, mass communication provides a base for analyzing and comparing the different sources of information that is resourceful towards a particular decision making. The criticism is effected through the content released in the media transposing the ideologies of the message.

Social media places a significant role in cultural promotion. Mass communication enables people to promote their cultural practices and norms (Hoffmann et al., 2019). For instance, through cultural wear and international culture week, people get to understand the values of others' cultures concerning their own. That way, the relevance of the norms is integrated, providing significant moral advancement or correlation.

Implications of the Social Media

Media possess a significant influence on the population. For that reason, it may be positively or negatively lead to a change of behavior, morality, knowledge levels, political stability, economic integrations as well as cultural perspective. It may also affect an individual's personality and social interactions. Social media has the power to control the populations depending on the content posted or disseminated through it. For that reason, the effects of social media are so diverse, thus leading to several changes.

Through research conducted by various scholars, social media dismantles the normal functioning of the blain. The argument state that the addition to social media reverts rational thinking as well as obstructing the manual activities that one is supposed to do. However, mass communication has enriched people with knowledge that is necessary to run life and make decisions as well. At the same time has made most thinkers develop laziness due to readily available information on the internet. The technology, therefore, reduces the productivity of the brain in terms of developing new ideas and analogies about life.

Cultural practices and norms, to some extent, are integrated whereby social media influences the audience in assimilating others' cultures. The process involves dressing code and also the general norms of the...