The Relationship between Social Media and Culture - Assignment Example

Media and culture Name of the Student: Name of the Instructor: Name of the course: Code of the course: Submission date: Question 1: Explain the relationship between social media and culture (identity,politics,power)citing relevant examples, authors and studies Introduction A robust relationship between social media and culture has been identified in diverse literature. This is best epitomized by an inquiry in the 1960s into the causes as well as the prevention of social violence in the US whereby the results revealed that the mass media played a critical role in the promotion of individual and the wider social aggression which prompted the government of the day in engage in a subsequent enquiry which primarily focused on televised violence. Subsequent enquiries into this maze have also pointed to the inference that there is convincing evidence that violence as depicted in the media plays a considerable role in contributing to the initiation and maintenance of the aggression culture at the social level (Gunter, 2008). The above is just an example of the heightened power of the media in influencing the violence culture among different cohorts in the society, which has also been supported by other authors. The instigation of the social media in the recent decades has just played a similar role, though at a more heightened level. Against this backdrop, this first section of this paper will expound on this interrelation between social media and culture while considering the elements of power and politics in this context. In addition, profound example will be given to support the inferences arrived in the subsequent analysis. Nonetheless, before the instigation of this discourse, it is imperative to have a generic definition of the primary variables in this section; social media and culture. Definition of concepts According to Smith and Harwood (2011), social media can be perceived as a broad term which is cited to describe the most recent evolution of the internet as well as the web based communication realms which have been key in enabling the users of these platforms to have extensive effectiveness in interactions and connections in a variety of diverse formats. The distinction between this recent trend and the earlier modes of broadcast media is that the consumers of the earlier forms are limited to the passive viewing of the contents while in the latter development, the users of the social media are active in the sense that they engage in interactions, connections, content sharing and even expressing opinions in regard to the content in these platforms. On the other hand, culture can be perceived to refer to a specific set of beliefs and values within the larger historico-cultural entity (Wei, 2011). Evidence has pointed to the fact that the media possesses immense power in moving the audiences which was previously perceived as a direct effect. This is whereby the media has extensive power in the psychological and emotional influence over the audience mostly in relation to attitude, behaviors, beliefs and emotional feelings (Gunter, 2008). In the past, this direct effect was specifically perceived in the context of the political effects of the media whereby the media of that particular time was viewed as providing robust and influential tools for dissemination of propaganda in the audience (Gunter, 2008). In the contemporary period, the instigation of the social media has seen the increase of this central role, albeit in a shifted dimension. This is whereby the social media provides an ideal platform whereby the citizenry of a particular region can continually express their opinions in regard to various issues of the day, share experiences and identify strategies which goes a long way in influencing their attitude and behaviors. This fact is evidenced by Pieslak (2007) who determined that many of the soldiers in the US who were based in Iraq established interactive blogs and websites where they expressed their opinions in regard to the war as well as sharing their experiences in the combat field. The posts in these blogs not only played a major role in influencing the attitude, feelings and beliefs of the audience which are embedded in their cultural orientation but also became primary sources of materials in writing books in regard to the soldiers life in Iraq. This is an example of the strong relationship between social media and culture. Social media has also been perceived as playing a fundamental role in promoting the culture of increased political participation among the youths who are the main consumers of this platform. This fact is evidenced by Bennett, Wells and Freelon (2011) who analyzed the increase of the youth participation in the political realms during the Obama campaigns in the US in 2008. These authors cited that based on the fact that majority of these younger citizens in this region are online, they were more likely to watch political video clips online as well as using social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace among others for political purposes through voicing and directly expressing their opinions on political issues in online forums. These forums and information sharing thus played a paramount role in promoting the culture of active political involvement of the youths in America among other regions, changing their previous passive identity to a more active identity in the political realms (Bennett, Wells & Freelon, 2011). This reveals the imperative role of the social media in shaping the political culture among the youths. It is also imperative to remember that the recent political uprising agitating for regime change in the Muslim world, most notably in Tunisia, were instigated by the social media and the subsequent effects are evident in other countries like Egypt and Libya where the imperative niche of the social media in influencing the culture of increased participation spilt over to. Thus, the social media can be viewed to possess immense power in influencing the culture of the population in different spectrums of the society. Nonetheless, it is imperative to be cognizant of the fact that the media has also been cited as playing a major role in the propagation and shaping the drinking culture among members of the population, which is mostly related to the context of marketing. The relationship between the media and shaping the drinking culture is explored in the subsequent section. Question 2: Explain how media help to shape drinking cultures, using relevant authors and studies The paradox of the heightened power of the media in shaping the drinking culture has been explored by various authors. This resulted in the generic enquiry by Ruddock (2008) into how the advertisement campaigns of different products influences on the eventual sales. This was based on the approach promoted by Hall and Morley which probe the question of how the environment of total media has direct influence in encouraging the consumption of these products as a lifestyle, and the general belief that purchasing, identity and satisfaction is one and the same thing. This section will engage in a profound analysis of how the media assists in shaping the drinking culture, mostly among the youths. This is mostly related to the tenets of marketing and advertisement of alcoholic drinks in the media. The conception of advertisements of various alcoholic drinks in the media as being integral in promoting the drinking culture among the youths has been instrumental in the widespread notion of controlling or banning advertisement of alcoholic contents in the media as being a profound strategy in the generic efforts towards acting in the diverse causes of youth disorders (Ruddock, 2008). In efforts to implement this strategy in the UK as a method of minimizing the entrenchment of the drinking culture among the youths in this country, three reports assigned by Young (2004), Nash (2004) and Cragg (2004) (cited in Ruddock, 2008) differed on the role of the media in promoting real-world drinking. Nonetheless, it is the inference by Young (2004) which captured a critical niche in this discourse based on its constitutional duty in adjudicating between the wider industry and the consumers (Ruddock, 2008). According to Young (cited in Ruddock, 2008), drinking in the UK is propelled by the ‘alcohologenic cultures’ in the sense that drinking has become increasingly entrenched in the life of the UK citizens and the sole effect of the alcohol advertisements has been fortifying the drinking predisposition which is already in existence. Nonetheless, contrary to the above inference which was highly convenient for brewers and distillers, it is imperative to be cognizant of the fact that children and teenagers who have not yet been predisposed to the drinking culture find enormous pleasure in drinks advertisements which feature attractive animations and music. Thus, the ‘no effect’ notion held by Young (2004) outlined above is not only premature but also misleading. This is based on the fact that these young children as well as the teenagers often resolve to drinking at an early age in search for identity, identifying with the ‘heroic’ persona exhibited in the alcohol advertisements and eventually become entrenched in the drinking culture. In relation to the drinking behavior among young girls, this is mostly propagated by the representation of the laddetes in these advertisements that they are taking over the realms which were previously male-reserved, the bars and pubs and thus competing with men unit for unit (Jackson & Tinkler, 2007). This has resulted in many girls being entrenched in the drinking culture even more than their male counterparts and alcohol consumption among this cohort of ladies has been cited as being a major cause of the alleged heightening of the ‘problem’ behaviors among majority of the modern women. On the other hand, a research by CitySafe (cited by Ruddock, 2008) revealed that majority of students attributed that drinking habits as being primarily propelled by advertisements from the alcohol industry. This resulted in the reverse of the previously held presumption (based on the inference by Young, 2004) that advertisements play no role in making individuals to drink something that they do not want. On the contrary, results from this research disclosed that even if the students did not necessarily like a certain product, they were bound to appreciate and enjoy the well-tailored advertisement for this product and prompted to try it in the future, with Guinness being cited as a robust example by the respondents in this particular research. In addition, advertisements in the media have been cited as being integral in changing the previously held perceptions in regard to certain alcoholic drinks, resulting to more people being willing to pay more to access this particular drink. This was also evident in this research by CitySafe whereby the offensive advertisement by Magners Cidar which managed to change the previously association of this product with the poor, and increasingly, more people were willing to purchase this product, at a higher price after this advertisement in Liverpool. This culminated in this product being central to the drinking culture among many students and young people in this region (Ruddock, 2008). Lastly, the general perception that parties tagged as ‘fun’ are usually associated with excessive drinking, this can be an as another robust influence of the media in shaping the drinking culture. This is whereby the advertisement of these parties in the media which are identified as being characterized by excessive fun and their association with promotion of various alcohol drinks is usually perceived as being fundamental in attracting young people. Thus, the partying culture, which is usually associated with the youths, is tied to the drinking culture in the media (Ruddock, 2008). Thus, in contrary to the perception by Young (2004), the media, mostly in regard to advertisements and marketing efforts play a major role in shaping the drinking culture among the members of the population in different regions. In conclusion, it is apparent from the instigating discourse that social media is robustly connected to culture among members of the population in terms of propagating the political participation culture (mostly among the youths) as well as having possessing extensive power in influencing the violence culture. In addition, the latter section has exhibited that the media, mostly in regard to advertisements plays a central role in shaping the drinking culture, contrary to the perception by some individuals and collectives. References Bennett, W. L., Wells, C., &Freelon, D. (2011).Communicating civic engagement: Contrasting Models of Citizenship in the Youth Web Sphere. Journal of Communication, 61, 835-856. Gunter, B. (2008). Media Violence: Is There a Case for Causality? American Behavioral Scientist,51(8), 1061-1122. Jackson, T. & Tinckler, P. (2007). Ladettes and modern girls: troublesome young femininities. The Sociological Review, 55(2), 251-272 Pieslak, J. R. (2007). Sound Targets: Music and the War in Iraq. Journal of Musicological Research, 26: 2, 123-149. Ruddock, A. (2007). Media Studies 2.0? Binge drinking and why audiences still matter. Sociology Compass, 2(1): 1-15. Smith, S. & Harwood, P. (2011). Social media and its impact on employersand trade unions. Retrieved November, 03 2012, from http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/a/i/social_media_FINAL_3108111.pdf. Wei, R. (2011). Civilization and Culture. Journal of Global History, Society and Civilization, 24, 1-14. Read More