Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Media Influence On Society - Part 1

My inquiry started a few months back when I was watching an old Sprite commercial. I think the idea was to overload the person watching with so many messages that they couldn't conciusly follow them all at once. It seemed to have worked on me because an hour after watching it I went to the corner store to buy something to drink for my family but when I got there I had no idea what to buy. I stood in the store undecisive for a minute and then I just grabbed a drink, payed for it, and then left. But when I got home and took it out of the bag I noticed that I grabbed a two liter Sprite without even realizing it! I think that since I was a little confused and undecisive about what to buy I unconciously went for the easiest answer, a Sprite. Sort of subliminal but still media influence.

The media does this to society all of the time but not always in the way I described. Some examples being in television commercials, where most alcoholic drinks are being drank on an island by people who don't even look the legal age, and on the radio, when you here an ad or jingle so many times it becomes engrained in your memory.Media has an influence on pretty much everything we think and do. Even in justice, before public trials are even televised people tend to form their opinions before they even know the verdict, which was the case in the Micheal Jackson trial. Therefore, even if someone is proven innocent their career and reputation will still be destroyed. The way we speak can be manipulated too. One example is when you hear a certain phrase in a movie and begin to repeat it in your normal conversations.

Music videos also do this. The other day I was talking to a friend and noticed that he was beginning to sound a little like he was from The Diplomats or Cash Money records or something. Everything he said ended with "ya' dig" which he never said before. He would say stuff like "Let's go to the store, ya' dig.","I'm going to the bathroom, ya' dig", or "I'm about to make a sandwich, ya' dig." I wanted to call him a poser but since it wasn't nice I decided not to say anything at all. Maybe all the videos and songs he watches and listens too had an effect he wasn't aware of. Or maybe he's just trying to be cool. I don't know for sure. I'll have to do more research to find out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_influence

2 comments:

william said...

I think that the media dase have a big influence on society . If the media like a song then the rado shans will play it more

ace said...

I believe this is a topic everybody don't take seriously. I like the examples you provided. I agree to the points you were making about how the media affect what and how we do things.