Media and impact of media

Start writing...The term media, which is the plural of medium, refers to the communication channels through which we disseminate news, music, movies, education, promotional messages and other data. It includes physical and online newspapers and magazines, television, radio, billboards, telephone, the Internet, fax and billboards.

It describes the various ways through which we communicate in society. Because it refers to all means of communication, everything ranging from a telephone call to the evening news on television can be called media.

Print Media includes all types of publications, including newspapers, journals, magazines, books and reports. It is the oldest type, and despite suffering since the emergence of the Internet,

Broadcast Media refers to radio and TV, which came onto the scene at the beginning and middle of the 20th century respectively.

The Internet – specifically websites and blogs – are rapidly emerging as viable and major channels of communication as more and more people seek news, entertainment and educational material online

Even Stephen Hawking, a British theoretical physicist, cosmologist, author and Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology within the University of Cambridge, once said: “The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life, but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.”

How social media impact on daily life.

social media are used to share content or information. Almost everyone who lives on this Earth has multiple or at least one social media account either Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and so on. The usage and amount of time we spend on our social media supposedly should be controlled. Nonetheless, in the era of information and technology, it is the other way around.

These platforms are used by users for many purposes. Some people use social media for good purpose such as to stay connected with friends or family members who live far from them. Furthermore, in business context, people are able to expand their business through social media.

Meanwhile, there are also some irresponsible people who get access to social media just to create chaos. Cyberbullying often occurs in social media when the perpetrator creates a fake social media account to humiliate or threaten their victims. Hence, according to the research from Adolescent Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, the occurrence of cyberbullying usually leads to a situation where the victims get involved with mental health problems such as depression and anxiety.

These recent months, when there is a rise in certain issues in Malaysia, people are able to tweet freely regarding their opinions without any restriction. To a certain extent, individuals might get into an argument just because they have different perspectives about some issues. The argument will lead to an unhealthy situation between the users where hatred is developed between them just because they have different beliefs.As a matter of fact, people will definitely show the good sides of their lives on Instagram. Hence, we start questioning ourselves, “why I can’t have a life like her?”, “she got a lot of money to spend while me, I have to find part-time job to get money”. As a result, we will feel dissatisfied with our lives just because we only see the lavish lifestyle of our followers. In the worst case scenario, one might attempt to commit suicide since they are not being able to meet the expectation of the so-called “perfect lifestyle” that has been portrayed in the social media.

Surprisingly, there are also users who make use of the polling feature that is available in Instagram as a tool to control their lives. In fact, according to The Guardian, a teenage girl was killing herself because 69% of her followers voted for death. This alarming situation proves that social media are actually jeopardising people’s life and mental health.