What Are the Positive and Negative Effects of Mass Media?
Mass media has had both positive and negative effects on people, especially young people who have grown up consuming media from many different mediums. Mass media has made information available to more people more quickly, and it has enabled individuals to spread their innovative ideas much farther than they would have been if there were no mass media. However, mass media has negative consequences for many people.
The most positive effects of mass media include a more informed society. Newspaper circulation was the first mass media content to affect the way people considered their role in society. An informed public translates into an involved public. Newspapers helped to build communities. Mass media took on a new role in the form of radio and television, exposing the general public to sights and sounds they never would have previously had access to.
The negative consequences that came from television include idleness and a correlation to obesity when an individual consumes too much television. Advertising is also implicated as a negative consequence, as depictions of women in advertising create unrealistic role models for young girls. New mass media forms, including the Internet and social media, have proved to be the most dangerous. While social media helps young people learn to network and navigate personal relationships, it also makes it easier to bully others due to the anonymity of the Web.
