Question

Media and technology play a huge role in contemporary society. From the way we communicate, how we receive information, even subtle day to day activities are greatly influenced by media and technology. The advance of technological innovations uplifts societies, but can also be detrimental. For example, the automation of the American workforce. Just like many other things in our society, it has both positive and negative effects.

* First, identify a source of media – newspaper, magazines, television, social media, etc.

* then detail the positive and negative aspects of the source of media you have chosen.

* Secondly, give special consideration to how this form of media has influenced society and how it has affected the way people think, interact, or communicate with one another.

* Lastly, use the Functionalist, Conflict, or Interactionist perspective to analyze how the form of media you have chosen impacts society.

Answer 1

If we take the instance of social media and it's various applications, we know that this technological facet comes with its boons and banes. The advantages of having SM are that it connects people from across the world, provides snippets of information at a faster speed, helps businesses in marketing ventures and helps in the global perspective, as people from various cultures come together on one platform.

The disadvantages of these apps are many too. The apps have been slammed for the breach of privacy, they have now been correlated with the surge of depressions in its users, they have been termed as addictive and also been the epicenter of many cyber crime activities.

But, social media has had a tremendous impact on the way people think, feel, and communicate. Now, communication has taken an asynchronous element and has also given people the liberty to say whatever they want as the anonymity on social media provides them with not taking any responsibility or accountability for their actions. This has also had a serious impact on mental health and the way people approach social interactions.

The interactionist perspective is the best theory to look at how social media has impacted the society. The interactionist perspective states that human interactions buttress the perception of reality. This perspective is incisive of both solidarity (functional) and conflict (conflict theory) as primary pieces of social interaction that impacts society, which is exactly what social media is doing with both its advantages and disadvantages.