Current Relationship With Media (Week 1)

Media surrounds us on a daily basis, through the TV, internet, and in print. The messages that the mass media sends to either buy products or support a certain cause can go influence us without us even noticing. The main form of media that I experience is in advertisements. I find them very annoying and try to avoid them if I can, but the reality is that they’re everywhere. While I might not really need a certain product, I still feel inclined to buying it after seeing it so many times.

TV especially has many well thought out and deliberate ads. Ads for medication talk about the side effects, which most of the time are worse than the actual disease, fast enough so no one pays attention but rather focuses on the sunny video with upbeat music. Cars ads glorify their product to an extent where you might think buying one will grant you eternal happiness. Fast food ads look great on screen then when you go buy the food it looks nothing similar to what you saw in the ad and was hoping for.

Eventually media worked itself into my life where I don’t notice it anymore and accept it. YouTube and music especially control a large portion of my free time, entertainment now can be found online or with electronic devices. I would say that my current relationship with mass media is that while I try to not be controlled by it, I still am affected and at least try to deal with it instead of being bothered by it. Media can be entertaining and exposing people to new ideas, however some people can be heavily influenced by media and their perceptions and views can change.