Mass Media is Influencing You and Me.

To think that you cannot be susceptible to influence by the mass media is a far-fetched idea. Even if we believe we are not being influenced by what is on television or social media, we are. The hypodermic needle theory states that the media transmits messages to the audience, and the audience automatically accepts the message and then reacts.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t see a post on TikTok or Instagram and then wanted to buy the item that the post was trying to sell me. We see users promoting items constantly in their videos, even if the video has nothing to do with the product. An example of this is TikTok star Alex Warren. Warren frequently includes a shot of him holding the Bang Energy drink in his videos. This strategy works, though. Bang Energy saw an increase in sales to $687 million from 2018 to 2019, which was a 699% increase.

Social media is not the only mass media that influences us. Politics and politicians are using media to influence us too. Look at how Donald Trump built a massive group of supporters who are so loyal it almost becomes a fault. An example of this is the attempted coup on the Capitol that happened on January 6, 2021. Former President Trump spoke to a group of followers that was being broadcasted on television and social media, and the next thing to happen was a group of his supporters marching down to the Capitol.

We have also seen how mass media can influence the Covid-19 pandemic. Mass media has had both positive and negative effects on society about Covid-19. With the use of social media, many community leaders have informed their followers about what is happening and ways to protect themselves. However, misinformation about Covid-19 can also be spread a lot easier and can cause panic or a false sense of security.

I wish I could say that I was never affected by mass media, but that simply is not the case. I buy things that I see being advertised, I get angry about politics, and I even shed a tear at emotional commercials about puppies. But over time, we can all become less susceptible to media influence by acknowledging our vulnerability and doing simple things like doing the research before automatically assuming something to be true. Even if we can increase our resistance to media influence, we will never fully be immune to it. After all, we are only human.