Review of Media Problems

Summary

1. The institution of media produces and distributes information and entertainment, particularly through mass media, channels of communication available to the masses. 
2. Mediums that comprise mass media include newspapers, radio, television, film, magazines, books, video games, music records, the internet, and more. New media involves interactive forms of communication such as social media, blogs, podcasts, and virtual worlds. 
3. Functionalists see that media has manifest functions such as disseminating knowledge to the masses but also latent functions such as its negative impact on population health. Conflict theorists are more concerned with how media and technology reinforce social inequalities, both within and among nations. They also look at how media typically gives voice to the most powerful in hegemonic media. Symbolic interactionists are concerned with how media shapes the social construction of reality, including how we use reference groups on media, particulalry social media, to undersatnd ourselves.
4. The gap in unequal access to media and technology has been termed the digital divide. The knowledge gap refers to an effect of the digital divide: The lack of knowledge or information that keeps those who were not exposed to technology from gaining marketable skills. This is a form of social inequality that disproportionately impacts lower-income people and people of color. 
5. Companies have leeway in how they use our data. Most media users feel that they have little control over their privacy and how data collected on them are being used. Though media users frequently receive privacy notices, they tend to skip reading them and instead simply agree. Companies also engage in practices regarding the devices we use to access media, such as planned obsolescence, intentionally planning for a product to become obsolete. 
6. Advertisements play on our insecurities, portray harmful gendered images, and shape our understandings of ourselves. Though ads have a long history in media, they have recently adapted to the rise of social media, with a constant bombardment of ads on social media apps and ambassador or influencer marketing. 
7. Though research is not definitive, it suggests that media violence increases aggression, even including among the friends of violent video game players. Exposure to media violence in childhood has also been found to increase the risk of cyberbullying and to predict aggression in adulthood.
8. News media has become fragmented and fueled digital tribalism, the tendency to reinforce loyalty to and ideas of a group, such as by political ideology. 
9. With media globalization, opportunity clusters in advantaged areas of the globe and media giants consolidate the media, which may fuel cultural imperialism as dominant cultures spread their values, ideologies, and traditions to strongly as to smother local cultures across the world. 
10. Laws such as the Communications Act in the US or the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU help address concerns of privacy and security. Governments, industries, and companies can write policy or law to strengthen media user protections. One response to the global COVID-19 pandemic was to increase funding that would narrow the digital divide. This collective action relied on federal and local governments, non-profits, school districts, and individuals like you. 

  

Questions

1. Keep a log of how often you engage with all forms of media over the course of a day – were you surprised at how often you were interacting with media, and what impact do you think that has on you? 
2. Which sociological theoretical perspective most resonates with you regarding media problems, and why does it?
3. How does the digital divide relate to broader social inequalities? 
4. How does net neutrality connect to media social problems, and do you support or oppose it? 
5. What practices do you engage in to protect your privacy and security online, or if you don't do much now, what could you do? 
6. Have you ever had a smartphone stop working after 5 or so years despite keeping it in good condition, and if so, what rights do you feel that you had to address that planned obsolescence? 
7. *CW: body image* If you're able, think back to how you felt about your body as a younger teen and consider how much of any negative attitudes you had about your body could be attributed to Photoshopped ads and images of people like you. 
8. How have you witnessed or participated in digital tribalism in your own life, and how do you think that has impacted you and the people around you? 
9. Concerns around media consolidation and culteral imperialism might seem more reflective of conflict theory – what would structural functionalism and symbolic interactionism have to say about these concerns? 
10. Do you think that a law such as the EU's General Data Protection Regulation would ever be passed in the US, and why or why not? What can we do to help pass those protections for media users? 

  

Action Steps

1. Use your sociological imagination: Consider how the way that you understand who you are as a person, your political beliefs, and/or your feelings about your body have been shaped by media practices and policies. 
2. Support alternative media: Reduce your time with traditional media such as on the major social media apps in favor of interacting with community-based media such as your local film organization, local NPR station, or local zine distributor and donate to those organizations, which often need stronger funding. 
3. Use your individual agency: Take inspiration from youth like Julia Bluhm and start a petition or take other action to push for healthier media practices such as showing real people in ads or reducing violence in video games. 
4. Engage in collective action: Research local or national groups that are engaged in organized action around media problems, select one, and figure out how to get involved in their efforts.