Introduction
The issue of the influence of mass media on various types of people and social institutions at various levels of society is often disputable. The reasons for raising the issue are understandable. In contrast, other comparable social institutions such as religion or the law that communicate directly with the people do not raise as much debate. This can be partly attributed to the increased proliferation of media content and media organizations that could have effects on people and society in general. In particular, the media significantly influences personal opinions and beliefs, matters that concern an individual, as well as a collective expression of opinions in society. Politics serve as a good example of a social institution where mass media largely influences both individual political opinions and the politics of any given society. The voters’ attitudes reflected on their voting behaviour, as well as their political opinions, are mostly under media influence. Therefore, mass media serves as means of facilitating, reinforcing, or inhibiting a given situation due to its profound influence on public opinion. Society and other social institutions are highly vulnerable to mass media influence in many countries, and people are easily swayed by the mass media; therefore, they do not think critically in decision-making.
Evidence of Mass Media Influence
The influence of mass media on society is most pronounced in politics, especially during political campaigns. The media provisions during political and election campaigns aim at achieving specific planned goals. In these situations, the political messages are usually short, intensive, and aim at reaching a wider audience. The political messages may not necessarily be popular to the audience but work to achieve some objectives, which in themselves may not be contentious. Such objectives may include electorate voting, purchase of certain goods, or giving to charity.
Usually, the audience exhibits non-resistance towards mass media campaigns. In this respect, the audience gives casual attention to campaigns, a phenomenon that provides the most favourable conditions for spreading mass propaganda (Signorielli, & Morgan, 1990, p. 147). Concerning the message content, most media campaigns, whether political or otherwise, provide unambiguous and relevant messages to their audiences. Relevance, in particular, reinforces or slightly changes, the existing audience behaviours, a factor that ensures the success of the media campaigns. Another factor that ensures the success of media campaigns is the nature of the subject matter. In this case, novel subject matter or the lack of competing sources of information ensures the success of media campaigns. In addition, informative media campaigns are often more successful than campaigns that aim at changing attitudes or opinions.
Audience behaviour usually conforms to their attitudes and opinions. Thus, media campaigns that cater for an immediate response from the target audience are usually effective. Whether it is buying, voting, or donating to charity, the campaigns aim at changing the audiences’ attitudes. Additionally, media campaigns are most often repetitive, a factor that significantly enhances media effects on the audience. In other cases, the same message is conveyed, through many media outlets, to increase acceptance. The source or status of the messages also contributes to the success of the media campaigns. In principle, most commercial campaigns attribute their offerings to a particular source such as a celebrity, national hero, or expert knowledge to gain acceptance. Additionally, endorsements by institutions or prominent people also serve to increase acceptance. All these factors represent the intentional influence of mass media on the thinking or opinions of the audience.
The Influence of the media on social norms and culture
The media’s influence on society occurs in two ways; that is, the perception of social reality and the formation of norms of a particular society. Concerning social reality, the media can provide a particular picture of the social reality, which may influence society to adopt different social values, norms, and expectations. In addition, continued interaction involving the self and the media has an enormous bearing on the individual’s behaviour and attitudes.
Usually, we learn from their social environment and respond to the knowledge acquired from their social environment. In other words, we expect the media to inform us of various social roles and the accompanying social expectations as far as family, work or political behaviour is concerned. We also expect certain social values to be reinforced in particular social situations, and the process identifies with these values or the people’s perspectives. Additionally, we expect the mass media to offer the order of importance or priorities about various issues, whether in reality or fictionally. These expectations arise from the fact that the media offerings are wide compared to the limited scope of real personal experience. In addition, the media is held as a trusted source of information beyond the scope of a person’s direct experience.
The media also influences the audience responses to particular situations. This relates to social problems such as violence and criminal activities, and in other cases, panic towards news or information. This implies that the messages received to influence the collective responses of individuals towards particular situations. For instance, child aggression is attributed to the media portrayal of aggression (Signorielli, & Morgan, 1990, p. 156). In most cases, where social inhibition is minimal, imitation and spread of new lifestyles can occur at a large scale by way of mass media. In particular, dress, music, and styles change because of media influence. In other cases, especially in developing countries, the media influences the consumption patterns of the audience and in the process influence consumer buying through publicity.
Of most significance are the consequences of mass media on other media institutions. The recent proliferation of media outlets has achieved two main things; it has diverted attention from other social activities, and presently, they are the main ways of reaching far more people compared to traditional means of communication. These two facts have profound implications on other social institutions such as religion. As a result, the other institutions are under intense pressure to respond or adapt in some way. Inevitably, the media poses a challenge to political institutions causing a diversion of time from political activities.
The proliferation of media outlets encourages the development of many social institutions controlled by powerful organizations. The development of media institutions influences the social and cultural structure of the audience through the dissemination of content that influences our opinions, attitudes, and ways of spending time.
Conclusion
The media has significant effects on individuals, society, social institutions, and culture. Most media outlets have wider coverage and offer content that attracts and retain audiences. Most often, the media offers a form of economic and political control through the media campaign messages disseminated to the larger audience. This influences the audience opinions and attitudes. Thus, we are easily swayed by mass media campaigns.
Reference
Signorielli, N., & Morgan M. (1990). Cultivation Analysis: New Directions in Media Effects Research. Newbury Park: Sage Publishers.