Living in a Society Influenced by The

Media
An opinion piece written by: Daniel Sigala

In our world today, nearly 74 percent of teens and adults are in

someway involved with the media. As we progress in years, information
technology is changing the way we communicate, obtain information for
personal and work decisions. The media is increasing its penetration in our
lives. In some situations, the impact on individual and/or organizational
decision making has become very extensive.
There lies the problem, sadly, our society has become immune to the
normality of things due to the intriguing effects of the media. Personally I am
a victim of this horrid phenomena. My family was deeply affected by the
media, the use of Facebook sparked a giant feud through a fake accusation.
Not only did this start the biggest fight my family has ever experienced, it
also separated us for the longest time. This goes to show that the influence
of the media on our lives can be very dangerous to the people that mean a
lot to us.
Teens around the world are affected in such a way that suicide can be
a result of this influence. All teens view celebrities with the perfect body,
make-up and clothing, and automatically believe that this is the perfect way
of living. In our world today, sex is something that has become as common
as an, after-school special. this means that sexual relations arent as
confidential as they used to be thanks to the influence of the media

(Carpenter, 2003) reports on a 16-year-old girl whom was impregnated. This

girl was influenced by social media peer
pressure. This said girl claimed to have
had sex voluntarily because of what she
had seen on TV. She was sad enough that
she wasnt pretty enough to have a
boyfriend, so one thing led to another.
Girls/boys view sex as something to live
for when in all reality the media fails to stress the risk of
protected/unprotected sex (unplanned pregnancy, STDs, etc.).
This problem has become such a
big issue in society that many believe
that there may not be a solution that
can end it. However, there is a solution
to this problem, and it all starts with
you!! The media shouldnt be able to
tell you what the truth is, you are the one in charge of your brain and you are
the one who dictates what it believes.

Reference:

Green-Pedersen, C., & Stubager, R. (2010). The political conditionality of mass media influence:
When do parties follow mass media attention?. British Journal of Political Science, 40(03), 663677.
Carpenter, L. M., Brown, J. D., Steele, J. R., & Walsh-Childers, K. (2003). Mass Media Made
Them Do It?. The Journal of Sex Research, Vol. 40, No. 4 pp 403-405.