Do you use an iPhone? Are you involved with social media? Do you sit on your living room couch every morning educating yourself to be more aware of what’s going on in our world? It’s obvious that media completely takes over our world. Media is the “generic term for all human-invented technology that extends the range, speed or channels of communication.” In today’s society, everyone is involved with a certain aspect of media. Media varies from entertainment to education. I believe that media at times can blindside its viewers, but at the same time, people must stay aware and remain involved. It is technology that is intended to reach a mass audience, a way to communicate news and information. It is almost impossible in our society for someone not to be involved with the media.

News and media have changed over time in multiple ways. For a long period of time, people relied on newspapers. However, nowadays, newspapers can be considered foreign to certain people. For my family, we stopped getting the daily newspaper — now it is only delivered to my house on Sundays. After asking my college friends about their routines at home, they all said that their families either canceled the daily paper and/or does not receive a paper copy anymore. Following newspapers are like radio stations. They are still used today to spread news but are not as common. Similarly, radio stations were an easy way to spread information to a large audience because radios were found everywhere, whether in restaurants and stores, in a car or in a house. However, eventually computers, televisions and cell phones took over and are most commonly used today.

I continuously have to help not only my grandparents but also my parents with certain things revolving around technology. My grandparents did not have the opportunity to grow up in the world of technology, therefore I always find myself helping them online and with their televisions. Studies have shown that the more television a person watches, the more involved with the media they are. People are blindsided by media environments being that they are always around us, so we do not notice it. When you simply log onto your computer and go onto a browsing website, Google or Yahoo’s top news stories are up and running, and it is almost impossible to not be aware of the latest information.

Now, our world now basically revolves entirely around technology. Technology controls us. After I surveyed 55 different young adults and adults, 81.82 percent of those surveyed use their phones as their first source to view media. People have their phones glued to them every second as if it is like their security blanket. None of the people surveyed chose newspapers as their media source. Social media is an easy way to find out information and stay in touch with people, no matter the distance and situation. Again, after surveying 55 young adults and adults, 45.45 percent of the people preferred Instagram while 41.82 percent of the people preferred Snapchat. Both popular social media platforms, they are used for different types of media. Instagram is the form of communication through pictures and videos spreading news and ideas, while Snapchat is like texting, but with photos that disappear after 10 seconds.

Since technology has such a great effect on our world, viewers form opinions based off of what the media is presenting. The idea is known as agenda-setting, the ability to influence topics on the public. News sources broadcast and reveal the public agenda and “the most important public issues as measured by public opinion surveys.” Whatever the media says, most of the time the public will believe. An instance of the concept at work was the 2016 Presidential Election: CNN trashed President-elect Donald Trump while Fox News trashed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Based on the viewer’s political beliefs, that person will be convinced that certain news sources are stronger and more reliable than others. Not only can media influence the viewers’ political opinions, but television can influence the way that its viewers perceive the real world. It is also proven that in our world, technology and television can lead viewers to think the world is much more dangerous than is actually is. Scenes in films that portray horror in parking garages, alleys and elevators can possibly prevent people from wanting to place themselves in these situations due to fear based on the movie or show.

When it comes to advertisements, technology has a great way of persuading its audience. Through advertisements, the audience interprets different messages based on certain symbols. Like the dog and the horse in the 2015 Budweiser Super Bowl Commercial, people feel sympathy for the dog and the dog owner. The advertisement is simply to sell the specific beer brand, but because of the symbols and signs in the commercial, the audience infers that by drinking Budweiser, life is good and enjoyable.

Staying involved and aware through mass media is definitely a must. It is important to know what is going on in our world, whether it's entertaining or educating. Although the media at times can alter the way that we think, being aware is definitely crucial in today’s society.