Media is any means in which some kind of information or communication reaches people by radio , television , newspapers, the Internet , magazines, etc. while culture consists of values , attitudes, artifacts, and other characteristics common to members of a specific community or society. Culture encompasses many aspects of society, including language , customs, values , norms, practises , rules, technologies, technology, items, organisations, and institutions.Media influences significantly culture because it has positively or negatively affected the social dynamics and other characteristics of society. According to Oak,
“The media provides a way for people to communicate with each other through news alerts or even social networking. Most people wake up in the morning and grab the newspaper, tablet, or television flips to inform themselves on the day’s worldly affairs.’’
Media presence has risen exponentially over time in the last 50 years. First, the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, the magazines, television and now the internet. The media explosion has brought a radical change in culture and society’s values and ethics, too. Media educates people about social issues such as Aids, dowry, sati, female feticide, polio, and other fields.
The media has a major influence on society and public opinion. People’s ideas have evolved through the use of media like television, twitter, newspapers or magazines.
Impact of Media:
Social media has become a huge part of people’s everyday lives. The following points represent the effect media has on society.
- Media serves the public want news and knowledge.
- Media will educate the public and give expression to the opinions of people.
- Media can work efficiently in a democracy.
- Media informs the public about and programmed government policies, and how they can benefit from these programmed policies. This lets people communicate their thoughts, and lets the government make meaningful improvements to its policies or services.
- Media will keep people amused.
- Media can serve as a transformative agent in cultural growth.
- Media has put people from around the world closer together.
- Come on. Media promotes business and industry through culturally rich advertising.
- Media will help a country’s political and democratic processes.
Positive Effect:
The social media has so many positive impacts on society. These of the following.
i. Social networking has increased people-to – people interactions and created an atmosphere where one can share one ‘s views, pictures and lots of things.
ii. Social media enhanced social understanding and innovation by engaging with others and exchanging new ideas and viewpoints.
And
iii. It’s also important for any company, as people need to use social media in their company at some point.
IV. Social media has grown the business and marketing globally. People enjoy buying items online.
V. Social media has provided a chance to extend one’s universe and make new friends from other countries.
Vi. Learning about breaking social media news is easier, as it has unrestricted exposure and versatility.
Vii. Social networking has improved people’s communication rate and efficiency.
Viii. Come on. Social networking provides the entrepreneurial skills people need to succeed in business.
Ix. By spending so much time dealing with emerging technology , people will acquaint themselves with computers and other technological devices better.
x. A common citizen can express his grievances through the social media without any difficulty, so that the ruling class’ higher authorities can behave for their own good. Unlike the past when cloudiness overshadowed decision-making, media scrutinize the workings of modern government lock stock and barrel.
The Negative Effect
Social media, on the other hand, affected society in derogatory ways.
i. People on social media can post anything they want and some of them might be inappropriate images.
ii. People have become more conservative about the perspective of each other. They are beginning to disagree about the viewpoint of each other in relation to political opinion, culture, social rights etc.
And
iii. Social media has adverse impacts on both young people and the elderly. It has cut back on physical activity. People enjoy sitting in front of the screens and talking all day.
IV. Social media has also had a negative impact on the youngsters. Any sites in which there is inappropriate information may influence and manipulate children.
V. The worst part of social media is that there are lots of useless information that people are posting.
Vi. That bullying and abuse on social media. People will make harsh, insulting remarks about something and anything else.
Vii. Many people depend specifically on the accessibility of social media information, and the web in general. That means they lowered their points of learning.
Viii. Come on. People spend more time on networking media, and the less time they spend in person socializing. Social networking sites are not an appropriate substitute for face-to – face communication due to the absence of body cues and other nonverbal signs, such as tone and inflection. People who spend a lot of time in social networking are less in a position to connect effectively in person.
Ix. Social media prominence, and the pace at which information is released, has generated a lax attitude towards getting the real facts or news about a given point.
x. The extent to which online private information is available has led people to neglect the need to filter the information they share.
Function of Media in Culture:
Media plays a very important part in influencing society. The roles that media plays in the culture obey.
1. Informing:
People want to know what is happening, where, where, who, why & How. It brings greater knowledge about people and materials among the public.
2. Teaching:
Media educates people by providing food, health, jobs, agriculture, technology, modernization and so on.
3. Entertainment:
The media entertains the people through movies, shows, animations, music etc.
4. Cultural & Societal Mirror:
On the other hand, media is also playing its role as a representation of culture & society. It portrays the real image of the community and society through various programs and talk shows.
5. Having transparent:
Media also contributed to making a nation’s job highly open. This is the third pillar of democracy after the government and the people, according to the experts.
Conclusion:
Media is a strong pillar of society and without a ‘Healthy Media’ a healthy community is not possible. Social media has grown the business and marketing globally. By engaging with other people and exchanging new ideas and thoughts it has increased innovation and social consciousness for society. In the other hand, media have also had a negative impact on society. People spend more time on networking media, and the less time they spend in person socializing. In short, the social media has positive, poor and negative cultural effects.
