Since the beginning of time and people, communication and media has always been around us and has always been constantly been changing. Technology has impacted our world and changed it forever. Social media has been a big part of this and connects people in many ways, it has shaped the popular culture that we live in to this day. However Mass media and communication has distracted our lives and it is becoming harder to educate the people and it has become almost ineffective. This has to change along with mass media and communication.
Mass media and communication is evolving and there has been a massive increase in global awareness. People are learning how to communicate better and are becoming wiser on how to do it. For example, when the rectors burnt down in Japan people from other countries found out almost immediately because of the news and mass media. There were also several posts on Twitter and tons of videos posted on YouTube. However without these technologies, information like this would not have gotten out so quickly. This means in big natural disasters, information can get out quickly which means people can come help out quicker. This is good and bad news because ten years ago to get information people had to get a news paper but now a days you can get information about anything instantly with the news on the TV or on the computer by using the internet. "Communication can be defined simply as the process by which individuals share information, ideas, and attitudes" (Wilson and Wilson). This definition can be taking in a lot of ways. To me this means that people can do anything they want with there own information. It would be better in todays society if people wouldn't share ever bit of info they have. Back 50 years ago it would have been very hard to spread information then now. In PressPausePlay some artists and film makers who were interviewed talked about how back in the day not many people knew how film worked or how to work with it and musicians talked about how not everyone knew how to make music. Now everyone knows how to make music and film because its so easy. You can go on an application like Logic and make a song in five minutes which back 20 years ago took six months to do. In the film Moby talked about how the Mass media, communication, and technology have almost ruined the music and film industries. He talks about how now every song made has a perfect back beat but what made music great was back in the day before perfect computer drum beats there were actually drummers who would play a not perfect song and it would sound great because everyone knew that that drummer could drum and do it well. "I don't make music for money or fame, I do it because I love music" (Olafur Arnalds). Olafur talks about how he knows whats happening to the music industry and how its hard to find good music. Now, people want to just make music for fame or so they can be known in the world or to become rich, but what people should care about is that the music that they're making should matter and they should care about it. They shouldn't just make some crap music they should pour there hearts into it and make something truly wonderful. This does not help Mass media or communication because if everyone is posting or submitting there music or film on random websites that only increases the amount of activity on the web, which could be taken in both ways. This means that people are actively communicating and trying to put a message out for the world. Or this could just mean they want to be famous and be rich like everyone else. The only reason why most people even try to make music now is for the fame and money. They don't care about their music, they just want that new Lamborghini or big house. If people truly cared you would think that they should deserve to be famous.
There is a hope, especially from Jeremy Rifkin, that with all this new technology and communication that there is a way to spread empathy throughout the world. In his book The Empathic Civilization, Rifkin talks about how there was huge empathy for Haiti after the earthquake that they had a few years ago. It was said that in hour one of the earthquake there was tweets on twitter about it, hour two there were phone videos posted on YouTube, and by hour three everyone in the world knew about it and sent aid immediately. In the aftermath a lot of people had thought that if there wasn't massive media and communication about the earthquake Haiti wouldn't have gotten aid so quickly. People had started paying more attention to the world because of mass media and people were trying to help. "They try to solve the problem of poverty, for instance, by keeping the poor alive" (Slavoj Zizek, First as Tragedy, then as Farce). Zizek's point of view is that even though people send money or try to help, it doesn't help the poor as a society. Cause even if you tried saving one poor person even if they got better they would still be poor and just get sick again. A few more examples of that are, theres a company called Toms and for any pair of shoes you buy they will send a pair to children in Africa. Also StarBucks buys the largest amount of coffee beans then any other company and insures that the farmers get a fair price. Apples which cost double, the good oath, genetically modified apples that they are really any better?" (Zizek, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce). Slavoj is talking about how, do you really think your doing any good in your life by buying organic apples instead of regular apples? And how you think your doing something good for the planet which just comes back around to how is donating shoes gonna help anything? This is an interesting way of looking at the earth and how people are trying to help poor countries with the help of mass media and communication.
As time goes on technology advances and communication becomes more excusable and more efficient. This can greatly impact peoples lives and either form bonds or destroy them. This goes into sports and how media has affected them. In Culture and Mass Communication the book talks about how as TV was created sports was a big part of television. "As television developed network executives eventually decided that baseball - the national pastime - was not as "visual" as football, so they turned professional football into TV's number-one electronic sports entertainment" (Culture and Communication). Its interesting how this quote out of the book talks about how "They" the media somehow controlled football to become the number one instead of baseball. Its like somehow the media made everyone watch football instead of baseball to make it number one because all they wanted to see were high numbers and lots of money. "In 1990, the NFL signed a record-breaking $3.6 billion, four-year contract with five broadcast and cable networks, including Turner Broadcasting System and ESPN" (Culture and Communication). It seems like it was just a battle between the NFL, AFL, and USFL until 1990 when the NFL hit the big time. If you think about it it doesn't even seem like it was about sports at all. It was just about who could make the most money with the TV companies as possible. "People come together for Super Bowl parties or Monday night football cocktail hours and share a common interest" (Culture and Communication). However one of the best things about having football on TV was that people would come together and have parties and talk sports because they love it. People had shared something great together and that would only be possible with TV.
Mass media and communication has been changing ever since we have been on this planet. However if it keeps growing and gets out of hand then there might be a serious problem, but to be frank about it, people can do whatever they want with technology and if its gonna help the planet then why stop them. This goes back to Rifkin and his ideas about how technology can lead to empathy. People have always tried to be kind to one and other and I think that if technology keeps evolving then maybe one day everyone can be friends and the whole world will be at peace and there will be no poor people or starving children. But until then technology will keep growing wether we like it or not and we shall keep evolving as a society and culture.
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