Essay On Mass Communication And Media Theory

1. Sending a message to a large, usually anonymous group of people, can be defined as communication in the mass communication. The message is sent through channels such as TV, radio, social media, and print media. In this type of communication, the message is sent with an intention to convey a particular message and direct attention to an intended focus. The difference between two-way communication and mass communication is that in the most cases, mass communication is a one-way process. In the case of mass communication, the recipients of a particular message usually do not have an opportunity to send a feedback. One of the examples is advertising, where the receiver of a message is not able to send a feedback. The main difference between collective and individual communicator is that in the case of collective communicator the message is sent within one group and it involves a group of processes. In the case of an individual communicator the process of sending a message usually implies to writing a letter, or a home within where the recipient of the message is usually one person or a small group of people. The interactivity is usually a computer-mediated communicator that is typical for internet communication. In the case of mass communication, interactivity means an active participation of the recipient of information in the online news, broadcasts, etc. Communication technologies changed mass communication in many ways including the faster transfer of information and widening the impact of their influence. Communication technologist changed the culture and the way people refer to social, political and economical issues. In mass communication, the medium is a means of sending a message many recipients. The medium is for example a television where a certain movie is simultaneously shown to many viewers, whereas the viewers do not have the opportunity to share their reflections of the movie among themselves. Radio and television are some of the channels of mass communication. They are mediums where the information is sent to its listeners or viewers and they have a significant impact on the creation of public opinion. The information that is served to the recipients shapes their lives and directs them to a certain opinion. The power of radio was shown in the broadcasting of George Orwell's drama "The War of the Worlds" that caused massed hysteria. There are many examples where technology is playing a role in the mass communication including the social media. Through social media, such as Facebook or Twitter, the information can be sent within a split of second. This may cause receiving a lot of unimportant information that take too much space in the virtual world and in the same way distract from important issues. However, social media allow two-way communication and in this sense they differ from television or print media.
5. The most dominant form of mass media in a modern technology communication is Facebook. Facebook has enabled its users to exchange information from their private life, to disclose their identity. Facebook has entered into everyday life of people by enabling them to sign in to various portals, to follow updates of their favorite newspapers, and to share pictures among themselves. In this sense, the identity of Facebook users is revealed to their friends, to the friends of their friends, etc. This strips every Facebook user of its privacy and secrecy and presents a powerful tool for manipulation. In many cases, online identity is not the same as the real identity. People tend to beautify the reality, or to hide behind false profiles so that they can fulfill their agendas. The concept of identity is presented mainly through photographs. Facebook allows sending and posting pictures, stripped from any censorship and reaching to almost every Facebook user. The power of Facebook and social media can be seen on the example of politics. As the world is fighting the war on terrorism, it is important to emphasize that the terrorists use social media as the most important means of communication. They recruit soldiers through Facebook and post videos that present killings. In this way, terrorists manipulate and use mass communication channels in order to accomplish their goal and intimidate the rest of the world. The most widespread definition of democracy is that it is a probably the best form of social order because it guarantees the rights and freedom of a society. With the appearance of Internet the new form of democracy has appeared - internet deliberative democracy. In internet deliberative democracy total equality can be achieved. This is not possible in the real societies and in this sense internet may be the new means of communication that facilitate an individual to achieve the same treatment as others. This is done by creating webpage of institutions where people can directly communicate with government officials and ask for advice. In this sense, Internet may be referred as the extended hand of democracy.