The media today occupy an ever-increasing place in human life. It is not easy to imagine a modern person who has never turned on a TV or held a newspaper in his hands. The media has invaded people’s lives hard and uncompromisingly; it is impossible to escape from information, especially in a megalopolis. The media not only disseminate information of varying importance and authenticity but professionally promote lifestyles, values, norms, social roles preferred by society, and more. They influence the life of society and shape its opinion, especially in those issues in which people are not experts.
Interesting is the impact of the media on the mental and psychological health of a person. The negative influence lies precisely in the ability to present information professionally. The media broadcasts violent information. Depictions of tragedy, death and human suffering are presented in great volume, making the viewer nervous and empathetic. Terrifying events such as wars and increasing crime are taking place in today’s world. Many people still need to develop the skill to absorb information, be critical of it, and verify what they read and see in the media and social media. The skill of distinguishing truth from lies and conditionally objective journalism from propaganda should be fostered in people.
Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the patterns of human behavior interacting with each other. Namely, communication processes, personality development, activities of large and small social groups, and their characteristics. The way a person sees people and how they, in his opinion, see him largely determines the behavior and decisions made (Badaan et al., 2020). For example, when faced with competition, people may treat their rivals with disdain, although this would not happen outside of competition. Social networks manifest social psychology, through which people can share their thoughts, communicate and learn news about the world around them.
People use social networks to keep up to date and keep up with the development of society. In this way, they can feel less alone. These platforms can be seen as a kind of information environment involving processes of information transfer and perception and influencing the behavior of network participants (Bayer et al., 2020). Thus, many people have lowered self-esteem and impaired psychological health because of the use of social networks and blindly believing the information provided.
References
Badaan, V., Jost, J. T., Fernando, J., & Kashima, Y. (2020). Imagining better societies: A social psychological framework for the study of utopian thinking and collective action. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 14(4), e12525. Web.
Bayer, J. B., Triệu, P., & Ellison, N. B. (2020). Social media elements, ecologies, and effects. Annual review of psychology, 71, 471-497.