Effects of Mass Media on Culture in the United States

People in the United States are constantly exposed to media throughout daily life. Exposure to mass media happens even if you do not mean for it too. It is on magazine covers at supermarkets, posted to  billboards along the streets, on television screens and cellular devices. A vast amount of this media, while marketing products, is creating and perpetuating pop culture. Whether you like it or not, you are going to encounter media to some extent daily. Is it a good thing to be so interconnected in the modern day that even this blog can be viewed by anyone around the world with access to the internet? How much of an effect does pop culture have in the United States? What does this instant communication do to cultural norms and fads in the United States? These are the questions I will explore and give insight to in this blog.


This article found on JSTOR is about the Mass Media and how it has effected Culture in the United States. The article makes several interesting conjectures; one of the most interesting being that Mass Media's standardization of information which is then exposed to the average consumer inhibits the potential for creativity and art. to flourish. This is one article from a large collection of published works call the Daedalus.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026570

The next article was found on the American Sociological Review website. This Article discusses how social stratification in the United States has lead to the famous being considered as the elite. It discusses the true nature of mobility in the United States especially among the famous. Stating that once one has reached a certain tier of fame, the media and society both perpetuate that fame.

http://asr.sagepub.com/content/78/2/266.full



 

accessed on rollingout.com                                                  accessed on KicksUSA.com

On the release date of a new pair of Air Jordans made by Nike, multiple fights were reported at shoe stores around the country. The image on the left is of a fight happening outside of a footlocker where the sneakers were set to be released. The Sneakers on the right are Air Jordans.

This link is to a video clip found on youtube.com shows interviews with people on the street as well as gives information on the major companies which are in control of mass media in the U.S. The most interesting finding is that there are so few companies controlling such a large portion of media in the United States.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ona0jYWa6s

This website link will take you to a website established by NOW which is the National Organization for Women. It shows what companies are in control of popular television programming. It also gives a brief background on the company.

http://www.nowfoundation.org/issues/communications/tv/mediacontrol.html

This link will take you to an article from Phys.org which has data on just how often people are exposed to media daily. The numbers are astonishing already and are projected to rise.



http://phys.org/news/2013-11-media-consumption-hours-dayper-personby.html