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Jenna Jackson
Sotirakopulos
English 2 H
29 September 2015
Mass Media and Society
Media used to be considered just newspapers and radio but has now evolved to include
television and social media as well as other means of communication. Mass media is utilized by
millions of people each day and its effects on society is hotly debated topic. Children are exposed
to the media at a very young age now, whether it be watching cartoon on TV or playing a game
on an iPad. Some argue that too much TV makes people dumber and is hurting children and their
intellect while others argue that television is making children smarter. Some experts contend that
social media poses psychological and physical health risks. Others assert that social media is an
effective means of communication and exposes adolescents to useful information. There are
many benefits and detriments to mass media, focusing specifically on television and social
media.
Children and adolescents are the future of our world, so its important to discuss how
television affects them. Every child has a different story in terms of their background, family
stability, wealth, etc. These all come into play when discussing the effects of television on
children. In Does Watching TV Make Us Stupid?, Nigel Barber analyzes the Third
International Mathematics and Science Study and Progress in International Reading Literacy to
discover a correlation between wealth and intelligence, with other variables such as media.
Barber found that, countries in which a larger proportion of children watched TV every day had
higher reading achievement scores (Barber). He also found that children of impoverished
parents actually perform better from watching TV instead of conversing with them. Of course
there are other factors that relate to intelligence and wealth, but from his findings, one can

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assume that television must have some benefits if children in wealthier countries who watch
television are performing better than those who watch none. Now, what are our kids watching?
Obviously not all television shows are going to have merit but studies have shown that television
has become a learning tool. Take Sesame Street for example. Shows like these are increasing
vocabulary, increasing test scores, and teaching children lessons on truth, friendship, family, etc.
There are also negative effects of watching too much TV for children. The Good and Bad
Effects of TV on Children by Raising Smart Kids addresses some of these effects. Watching TV
is taking away time from reading, schoolwork, and other activities that are meant to help a child
grow. TV is also exposing adolescents to negative influences. Besides psychological issues, kids
who watch too much TV tend to be overweight. Researchers also found that, Kids with lots of
screen time were found to have narrow artery in their eyes, which may indicate heart risk (the
Good and Bad Effects of TV on Children).
Stepping away from children but still focusing on television, adults also watch TV and
one must weight the benefits and detriments on them. In Watching TV Makes You Smarter,
Steven Johnson discusses the intelligence benefits of watching TV. His argument focuses on the
Sleeper Curve, which states that when people are watching TV they, have to pay attention, make
inferences, [and] track shifting social relationships (Johnson 279). This phenomenon comes into
action when Johnson discusses multi-threading in TV shows, which layers plots together and is
therefore teaching viewers how to follow these threads. Johnson also compares reality TV to
gaming culture. Watching reality TV activates the part [of our brain] that tracks subtle shifts in
intonation and gesture and and facial expression-scrutinizes the action on the screen, looking for
clues (Johnson 291). Besides Johnsons argument, television also has other positive effects. IQs
are rising and more girls are advancing in the field of science. Furthermore, television is making

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people more aware of the issues that are going on in the world. It has increased awareness and
acceptance of issues.
Another prevalent form of mass media is social media. The Internet and social media has
become a huge part of our culture and is still advancing. Social media has many uses. It can be
used as a business tool for marketing, to communicate with people from around the world, to
find new information and it can be used to keep in touch with old friends. Just like any form of
mass media, it has its benefits and detriments to society. PewResearchCenter authors Hampton et
all. researched social networking sites and our lives. They found that Facebook users are more
trusting than others, have more close relationships, get more social support than other people and
are more politically engaged than most people. Social media is often used as a means to
communicate. Some argue that is is taking away from the ability to speak to people face- to face.
Some are concerned that on the Internet, one can edit who they are. With so many people
staring at their phones and texting and tweeting instead of talking, some experts believe that
human relationships are becoming more shallow. People no longer know how to hold a
conversation with someone in person. In the article, Social Media's Small, Positive Role in
Human Relationships, Zeynep Tufekci disagrees. She argues that social media is actually
making relationships stronger and is letting humans communicate in ways that were once not
possible. People who are on their phone are not communicating with just anyone, they are most
likely talking to people who are important to them. Furthermore, some people are simply just shy
and not comfortable talking to people face-to-face. These people find online interaction
liberating. Social media is also making society more intelligent. In her article, Does Social
Media Make Us Smarter?, Monica Nickelsburg states that, Young people spend far more time
consuming new information, honing verbal concision, and interacting with a diverse audience

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than they have at any point in history (Nickelsburg). Many people believe that because this
generation contains text talk and types with acronyms, that this would translate over to
students papers. Research done by Andrea Lunsford suggests that this is a myth. She found that
there was virtually no change in the number of errors in papers over the last century. By 2006,
papers were also longer and more researched than those written in 1917. Young people are also
spending more time writing outside the classroom. This may just be for a tweet or a status
update, but they are still constantly writing. Writing for their peers, a responsive audience, also
motivates them to write better. There are also some negative effects of social media.
Cyberbullying is a prevalent issue in our society. The average attention span has reduced from 12
minutes to 5 seconds in just 10 years. Social media can lead to feelings of loneliness and
dissatisfaction and Internet Addiction Disorder is very real.
Mass media, specifically television and social media, is utilized daily by millions of
people. Its benefits and detriments to society is a highly debated topic. Children who watch
some television seem to do better than others, but there are also physical and psychological risks.
Television has also become more advanced and exposes society to issues. Social media is
increasing human relationships and increasing intelligence in some forms but also can contribute
to psychological issues. I believe that social media is more beneficial than television. All experts
can agree that both are good in moderation and if used in excess, have more detriments than
benefits.

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Jenna Jackson
Sotirakopulos
English 2 H
30 September 2015
Works Cited
Barber, Nigel. "Does Watching TV Make Us Stupid?" Psychology Today. N.p., 12 Mar. 2009.
Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
"The Good and Bad Effects of TV on Children." Raise Smart Kid. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Goulet, Lauren Sessions, Keith Hampton, Kristen Purcell, and Lee Rainie. "Social Networking
Sites and Our Lives." Pew Research Center Internet Science Tech RSS. N.p., 15 June
2011. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Johnson, Steven. "Watching TV Makes You Smarter." New York Times 24 Apr. 2005: n. pag.
Web. 1 Oct. 2015.
Nickelsburg, Monica. "Does Social Media Make Us Smarter?" The Week. N.p., 17 Sept. 2013.
Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Tufekci, Zeynep. "Social Media's Small, Positive Role in Human Relationships." The Atlantic.
Atlantic Media Company, 25 Apr. 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.

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