What Are Disadvantages of Mass Communication?

A surfeit of information and advertising messages are two of the major disadvantages of mass communication. Exposure to inappropriate content is a consideration as well. Mass communication tools provide powerful and voluminous outreach but also pose potential hazards.

The offerings from mass communication are simply too numerous for any one person to sort through discriminately. The number of potential information outlets that are widely available has grown to include the number of people who have an Internet connection. Even the websites attached to traditional news organizations distribute so much information on a daily basis that it’s impossible to take in more than a small percentage of it.

When people do access information through the mass media, they are inundated with advertising messages. The saturation eventually equates the information from the advertiser with the information from the provider. Radio and television ads are broadcast that may be unsuitable for their audience, particularly if children are watching and listening. The multitude of ads on the Internet provides more ways for businesses to reach consumers, leading to an onslaught of competing needs within the audience.

Content for ads is not the only source of inappropriate content present in the mass media. Racial stereotyping through entertainment and commentary teaches younger people to differentiate on the basis of ethnicity and reinforces that tendency in older generations, says The research Pedia.