Mass media to me seems like a rather easily defined, yet difficult to grasp term, which tends to envelope any major invention since the dawn of man. I define mass media as any sort of media delivered to a large amount of people (the masses). Pretty self-explanatory you may agree, but to further understand the term you must understand the meaning of the word ‘media’, which is described as the plural of the word medium, which is defined as anything aiding in communicating a specific idea or feeling. So this in turn makes the term ‘mass media’ mean a means of communicating a specific idea or feeling to a large group of people.
This whole media for the masses sounds great and all, what with television and internet making communication a lot easier, but the problem with the media is that it has started to dictate the way we feel, think, and act. You can date this back as far as even the invention of the alphabet. “Before the invention of the phonetic alphabet, man lived in a world where all the senses were balanced and simultaneous, a closed world of tribal depth and resonance, an oral culture structured by a dominant auditory sense of life.” (Mcluhan) In this example lies a problem in Marshall Mcluhan’s eyes. He feels that the invention of the phonetic alphabet started the boulder rolling down a cliff towards our society being a largely visual based culture. Before the invention of the letters I am typing this blog post with were invented people were forced to speak to each other and in McLuhan’s eyes all senses were equal. I tend to slightly disagree. If the means of communication before the invention of the alphabet was spoken word, would the dominant sense not be the sense of hearing? I will however agree with the fact that the invention of the alphabet was a major turning point in creating the society we know and (try to) love today. Without the invention of the alphabet the only way to converse with someone would be to call them up on your telephone. It would be an interesting world to consider, that’s for sure.
To put this whole alphabet changing our ways of life into a modern concept take the multi-million dollar advertisement industry. Each ad you view on the television, pop-up you see on your computer, or billboard you see along the road has an emotion attached to it. These emotions are strategically attached to the advertisement by the industry that’s sponsoring them. The goal of these companies when it comes down to it is to convince you that your life would be better with their product. If that means they make an example out of your current situation then all the better for the ad agencies. For example an ad for a new computer may try to convince you that your old computer is either, too big in size, or too small in storage space. You may not have ever thought about buying a new Mac, but after the advertisement (if the people at Mac have been doing their homework) you may actually look at the possibilities of owning a brand new, sleek, silver Macintosh.
Those are just a few examples of the ways that ‘mass media’ affects our daily life, and for the better or the worse it is here to stay. So while I continue typing on my new Mac, listening to advertisements on the radio in the background, and using the alphabet I suggest that you do the same, because we really don’t have much other choice.
McLuhan, Marshall. The Playboy Interview. http://www.nextnature.net/?p=1025 Playboy Magazine, March 1969. © Playboy
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