The physical and mental effect of mass media on Humans Research Paper

The physical and mental effect of mass media on Humans - Research Paper Example The skewed relationship is based on ultimately serving the purpose of the media and encouraging its consumption. 1. The Evolution of Mass Media and High Effectiveness Prior to the emergence of any form of mass media, human was the primary medium that was used to convey messages to a large number of people (Ott and Mack 2). This method of delivery had significant flaws. The first was their dependence on slow transportation and secondly the message passed through multiple channels or humans until it reached destination and by then it would be significantly distorted. Here lies the key difference between such methods of message delivery and mass media, mass media have the potential to reach a large number of people simultaneously in remote locations (Ott and Mack 2). So the key distinguishing feature is not just the mass audience which one may observe in a rock concert too, they key feature is remote location. Ott and Mack in their book Critical Media Studies describe mass media as havi ng the ability to overcome physical distance and space (2). Harris and Harris in their book A Cognitive Psychology of Mass Communications write that the revolution in mass media is not unprecedented. It started off with the emergence of photography and telegraphy in the 1840s, progressed to telephones in a few decades later followed by the emergence of cinema in 1896. This led to the progress in the field of motion pictures which drastically impacted the way humans communicated to one another. Radio emerged in the 1920s followed by television in 1950s, video technology in 1980s followed by the internet in 1990s (Harris and Harris). Following the decade of the emergence of the internet everything has completely altered in terms of communication, cultures and technology. The last decade has been phenomenal in technological development, bringing people and cultures together across the globe. According to Wells and Hakanen mass media are a product of technology (19). Historically it can be observed that technological developments in a society have had a direct impact on the media of that time. For instance, the mass media circulation of newspapers was made possible only because of the technological developments in the printing press (Wells and Hakanen 19). Presently we can observe the same trend for internet where messages can reach a number of people world-wide with the emergence of the internet. Ott and Mack in their book Critical Media Studies highlight the following key areas in technological advances and evolution of humans that have had a clear impact on media (9-10). 2. Effects of Mass Media on Humans Humans are greatly influenced by media, even more so than they realize. Today the way they behave, think and interact is greatly influenced by various forms of mass communications such as television, radio, print and the internet. Television in particular over the last 60 has had an impact on human live much greater than almost any other invention (Harris & Ha rris). Radio and print has over the years managed to retain their uniqueness. However internet is one such medium which can affect all its predecessors in terms on massage delivery and communication and will soon replace television as the invention with the greatest impact on human lives. Initially much effort was made in designing of the message with the assumption that all receivers would interpret the message in the same manner. Over a period