Media

12
The term "Web 2.0" was coined by Darcy DiNucci in 1999.
In her article "Fragmented Future," she writes:
“The Web we know now, which loads into a
browser window in essentially static screenfuls, is only an
embryo of the Web to come. The first glimmerings of Web
2.0 are beginning to appear, and we are just starting to see
how that embryo might develop. ... The Web will be
understood… as a transport mechanism, the ether through
which interactivity happens. It will… appear on your
computer screen,… on your TV set… your car dashboard…
your cell phone… hand-held game machines… and maybe
even your microwave.”
 Among Canadian youth:
Listens to music 31 hours/week
Watches TV 14 hours/week
70% of girls read popular magazines
86% have access to home computers
99% have access to Internet
39% sleep with their cell phones

Retrieved from: http://ccit300.wikispaces.com/Teen+Magazines

Internet Uses by 12-17 year olds
 Theories of Media Influence
• Two theories focused media effects:
– Cultivation Theory – watching TV gradually
shapes or cultivates a person’s worldview which
becomes like the worldview frequently depicted on
TV (e.g., avid X files watcher  everything is a
government conspiracy!)
– Social Learning Theory – people are more likely to
imitate behaviour they see frequently modeled [in
the media] and behaviour that is rewarded (or at
least not punished) (e.g., copy cats)
Uses & Gratification Approach
• Two principles:
1. People make individual
decisions about which media
to consume (based on their
individual differences and
characteristics)
2. People that consume the
same media product will
respond to it in different ways
depending on their individual
characteristics
 Five Uses of Media
1. Entertainment
“to have fun”
2. Identity Formation
“Forging who I am”
3. High Sensation
“Seeking intense and new sensations – thrills”
4. Coping
“It helps me relax and de-stress”

5. Youth Culture Identification

“I feel connected to my group”
Copyright © Pearson Education 2010
 Television and Aggressiveness
• Great deal of research attention focused on the extent to
which television provokes violence in young people

• 1960–1990 saw a rise in both violent crime and violent

television programming
• Most of the research on the issue is correlational (cannot
prove causation!)
• Many experimental studies have been conducted to
address the question:

Does watching violence on TV cause adolescents to become

more aggressive, or are adolescents who are more
aggressive simply more likely to enjoy watching violence on
TV?
 Computer Games: Players’
Perspectives
(Olsen et al., 2008)
• Interviewed boys (12–14) about the effects of
playing violent computer games.
• Findings were that boys use computer games:
– To experience fantasies of power and fame, and explore exciting
new situations
– For the social aspect (e.g., playing with friends and talking about
the games with friends)
– To work through feelings of anger or stress (cathartic effect)

They did not believe that playing

violent computer games affected
them negatively.

http://cdn.makeuseof.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Gamestress1.jpg?c52272
Computer Games & Aggressiveness

• A majority of adolescents’ favorite games involve

themes of violence
• Studies have shown that playing violent
computer games is related to heightened
aggressiveness, hostility, and anxiety

Pause for Reflection:

Do you play computer games?
Which games? Do they contain violent themes?
Describe. How do you feel after playing?

Copyright © Pearson Education 2010

 Sexual Portrayals on TV
Males
•Preoccupied with sex
•Always “ready and willing”
•Recreational attitude toward sex
Females
•Value men mainly for physical
appearance, wealth, and status
•Recreational attitude toward sex

Research Summary (Cope-Farrar & Kunkel, 2002)

•82% of programs had sexual content
•Sexual behavior more frequent than sexual talk
•Sexual behavior between partners with established
relationship (not married)
•Kisses and hugs;
•Nudity infrequent
Discussion of sexual risk RARELY
took place
 Music TV: Basics
• MTV started in USA 1981 – now broadcast worldwide
representing a force in globalization
• American adolescents watch MTV approximately 15–30
minutes a day
• Two categories:
• Performance Videos – just like a concert conveying the song
• Concept Videos – tell a story, like a mini-movie that enacts the lyrics
of the song

• About 15% of videos contain violence (usually mild vs.

severe violence)
• About 75% contain sexual themes (implied vs. explicit)
Copyright © Pearson Education 2010
 What a Tangled Web….
Internet Benefits
• Access to information –
potential to enhance
education
• Can be a source of
positive social interactions –
opportunities to practice
communication, engage in
“identity play,” and find
answers to problems
Internet Cautions
• Chat rooms sometimes
frequented by sexual
predators seeking to victimize
children and adolescents
• Academic cheating via
downloading or purchasing
pre-written papers
• Promote social isolation
(displacement effect)
 Social Networking
• The use of social-networking websites such as Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat is increasingly popular
among adolescents and emerging adults.
• Having a profile allows users to maintain and expand their
social networks
• Adolescents and emerging adults use the sites mainly to
keep in touch with old friends and current friends and
make new ones
Class Poll:
How many of you…..
1.Use one social-networking site?
2.Use more than one social-networking site?
3.Do not use social networking sites at all?
Lets have a discussion about people’s reasons for using or not
using…
 Blogging
• Blog – a public Internet journal of a person’s thoughts, feelings, and
activities (short for “web log or vlog for videos”)

Some US blogging “stats”:

•one in four adolescents ages 12–17
have created their own blog
•about half read others’ blogs
•adolescents are more likely than
adults to create and read blogs
• Most common content? Daily activities (e.g., conversations with friends
or family, discussion of romantic relationships)
• Blogs can be? An arena for identity explorations, as adolescents and
emerging adults reflect on their experiences and their feelings about
themselves
• What makes blogs a fascinating and unique media form? They are at
once private and public, personal and social
Cell Phones & Instant Messaging
• Cell phones resemble e-mail
and instant messaging as a
way to stay in contact
virtually all day long
• Cell phones are most
popular among adolescents
and emerging adults of any
other group
• Adolescents use cell phones
for text messaging even
more than for talking
 FOMO Phenomenon
• Fear of Missing Out

• Some research
suggests that
anxiety and
smartphone use go
hand-and-hand
• Video
Images from: https://www.skyword.com/contentstandard/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/fomo.jpg
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 Social Policy & The Media
• Encourage socially responsible
programming.
• Support public efforts to make the media
more adolescent-friendly.
• Encourage media literacy programs as part
of school curricula, youth and community
organizations, and family life.
• Increase media presentations of health
promotion.
• Expand opportunities for adolescents’ views
to appear in the media.
 Final Exam Information
• THANK YOU for a wonderful and engaging semester!!!
• It was lovely to meet you all and to get to know you 
• Please do stay in touch! 

• FINAL EXAM INFO

• Friday, April 12
• 7-10pm, Education 1101/1121