ADVANTAGES OF MASS MEDIA
Mass media, such as the Internet, social networking, have been integrated into people’s lives. In fact, researches have shown that the number of adults and teenagers relying on mass media to gather information or communicate with one another has increased exponentially in the last few years. There have been many debates on whether mass media have a positive or negative effect on our lives. Many people argue that the socializing benefits of media, the fact that distance is no longer an insurmountable issue, and the possibility of sharing information globally proves how mass media have changed our lives for the better. However, the other side of the argument states that isolation, increased risks and the loss of critical thinking are the main consequences that media have had on our lives, changing them for the worse. Paradoxically, both arguments are true as the reality lies in between them.
The effect that mass media has had on socialization is one of the most controversial and debated effects of mass media. Social networks are one example of mass media communication which has had a great impact on our society; Facebook alone has reached more than 500 million users, 65% of whom are teenagers. The reason for this is that there virtual platforms offer the so called “third space” (outside of the home and school), which psychologists claim to be indispensible to teenagers in order to socialize and build up their personality. The opportunity social networks offer is in fact a welcoming, more accessible ‘third space’, thanks to which embarrassment and social differences are eliminated as obstacles to socialization.
On the other hand, mass media virtual communication is debated to represent a very ‘unhealthy’ way of socializing, and the impact it is having on our lives cannot be for the better. It has been reported that 3.22 hours per day are