The Effects of Mass Media
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Broadcasting Voices in Mass Communication
Our digital world has changed rapidly, from people reading newspapers to the widespread of the internet today. The usage of the internet can be different or the same for everyone.
The internet provides many opportunities and advantages, as well as disadvantages to the public. Many communication majors here at Brigham Young University-Idaho, have studied mass media and its effect on the population.
A survey has been conducted to help vocalize the voices of communication majors, and their views on the advantages and disadvantages of the Media. Approximately 30 communication major students have willingly volunteered to participate in the survey. The survey held ten detailed questions that asked about their media usage, and provided detailed questions asking what their thoughts about it was. The survey was taken on the Brigham Young University Campus in the beginning of January 2025 and was extended to March 2025.
Image Found on Wix (February, 12th)
Welcome
"Mass Media provides the essential link between the individual and the demands of the technological society".
About Me.
Over the course of the Winter Semester at Brigham Young University - Idaho, many communication majors believe that the form of Media is constantly growing and spreading to this day. It is true that the Media has evolved rapidly, with the widespread of the internet being used daily, this leaves the question asking.
"What exactly are the effects of Mass Media?" And "How much do people rely on the media?"
At Brigham Young University - Idaho, Communication majors have devoted their time learning about the media, and their inputs on how we can regulate it with it not having complete control over us.
Results of the Survey
In the survey, a question was asked about overall how the participants felt about the media, here are some of their responses:
Anonymous
"I use media daily and need it to keep updated on events, products and almost everything"
Anonymous
"I rely on the media to research news and current events, to stay in touch with friends, and to do online shopping because I live in the middle of a cornfield and the only way to shop is online. Southern Illinois is very rural. Every now and then I get lost on Pinterest. I like to fantasize about places I could visit or worlds I could create when I write. So sometimes media is an escape for me. Usually, I am using it in a functional way, but about 20% of the time I’m using it for an escape. I’m rated at a six because when I am busy doing outside things in the springtime and in the summer, I use my phone a lot less. I find that I spend more time on it when weather keeps me from being more active. When I’m visiting family or I’m really involved in something I will sometimes not even look at my phone for the whole day. It is super convenient for fast information though and I use it for that probably more than I realize. I do have a screen time report that I get weekly that shows how many hours I spend on the phone a day. On average I’m on my phone for 2 1/2 hours a day and during the busier times I probably am on my phone about an hour a day. I do use it for my calling a lot though. We have a lot of text message type meetings when planning things with and for the youth. So sporadically when we have an event coming up, I might spend a lot of time answering questions or delegating assignments."
Anonymous
"The main reason I'm on the media is for entertainment. I don't need it for anything so I'm not that dependable on it."
Our Services
Voices of the Students
Above are the images from the survey, showing results of what the students think of the Media. What we can concur is that Media Usage is very active daily in everyone's lives. We can also observe that the Media is still in the progression of growing. The results of the survey showed that full dependence on the media is not actually healthy in regard to mental health. These students indicated that it is very important for people to have a good healthy relationship with the media.
People who are fully dependent on media cannot focus on the other tasks that need to be done, and tend to fall into the trap of false truth that is resented on media sites.
Many students indicated that there should be strict guidelines about the use of Mass Media. While Media holds a lot of benefits and helps society accomplish a lot of tasks, it also holds the potential to limit us. According to the survey results above the majority of students also believe that the media is still currently evolving and growing. Most people use the media for entertainment purposes as well as gathering information. The media is used every day by the students and is an active advocate in a lot of daily lives of individuals.
Media...The Good
While Conducting this Survey, a couple of the students believed that the Mass Media held more benefits than disadvantages.
"It's a tremendous benefit for me. I connect with friends far away on Facebook. I learn how to do a lot of DIY projects from YouTube. I can order things to be delivered to my house from Amazon. It's great!" - Anonymous
"Shopping and Communication has been a lot more efficient" - Anonymous
Some of the students have disagreements against that the Media damages society. Students on this side of the argument think that the Media helps society progress forward.
Public awareness issues, such as health and environmental concerns have been spread efficiently through Mass Media.
Image found on Wix (March 31st)
Media... The Bad
The majority of the students who took the survey, counterpart that the Media is not good for society. The pie chart shows that almost half of the students do not think it's okay to be entirely dependent on media.
"Negative comparisons, time wasting videos, & pornography addictions." - Anonymous
"struggle with getting a lot of my tasks done." - Anonymous
According to the statistics above, the most voted form of overuse of Media was aggression. Changes in behavior have been noticed with an overuse of Media. The survey also states that individuals are unable to accomplish their work with how much time they procrastinate when it comes to Media.
What Can we Conclude?
Image from Wix (March 31st)
When we look and observe the impact of Mass Media. We can conclude that it has both positive and negative impacts on society. With how much the Mass Media has grown and evolved, and is still currently growing, it plays a crucial role in entertaining, educating, and informing people. The Media has also helped us connect and debate across platforms such as social media and much more, it serves as a major source of information. The Mass Media comes in many forms, from social media platforms, television, and many more. It has the power to broadcast awareness to critical issues, connect us to all different types of people around the world, and welcoming diverse cultures and mindsets to the open discussions.
However, even though Mass Media holds a lot of benefits and potential. It is highly important to acknowledge its flaws that also have devastating impacts. The Mass Media has been known to spread false and misinformation on many platforms to many people. An example of this was the COVID-19 Health misinformation, during this pandemic many miscalculated context and misinformation spread rapidly on many platforms. This tactic was used to manipulate and deceive the public. This is one of the many examples that the media has been used against the public. Another arising problem is media addiction, the survey results above from the students explain how they have witnessed and experienced tasks being unaccomplished with the time they spend on the media.
The Mass Media is good and bad for us, the students at Brigham Young University believe that we should strive for a healthy relationship with media. That meaning we should not let the media have control over us but instead recognize it for its flaws and advantages and use it for our own benefits.
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