Role Of Mass Media By Using Two Sociological Theories

Introduction

Mass media is a technology which is intended to reach mass audiences. It is utilised for enhancing communication in the market which is used to reach vast communities across the globe, the most common platform of mass media are newspaper, television, internet, radio, and magazines (Akimova et al., 2019). The mass media can be categorised into four types which are print media, broadcast media, outdoor media and internet. All the media are effective to enhance communication and cooperation, where the people can share their messages and target the audiences successful for better communication and understanding. The essay provides a scope to understand the sociological theory related to mass media in order to identify its role in the society. Through this study, two sociological theories will be evaluated which are identify formation theory and the role of mass media theory, which further help to acknowledge the specific roles of mass media.

Theories of mass media for identifying its role

Identify formation is the theory of individuals to develop proper personality and own identify in the society and it is considered as development of persisting entity in a particular stage of life. Through changing information, gathering latest updates, the person tries to acquire information and improve interactions in the society (Husin, Ismail and Ab Rahman, 2016). As per the identify formation theory, there are for aspects which are identity foreclosure (Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2016). Identify moratorium, indentify achievement and identify diffusion. In the identify foreclosure, there is high commitment and low explanation activity. Under identify moratorium, there is low commitment to the prospect for identity formation (Havens and Lotz, 2017). Identity diffusion is related to low commitment and low motivation to explore new opportunities. Under the identity achievement, there is high commitment and high exploration where the individuals try to build their personality and create identity (Akimova et al., 2019). The identity formation theory is good for identifying the role of mass media in this context, where the major roles are such as it entertain and educate the people. The mass media is a platform, where the people may explore new information and ideas further and there is high commitment to get proper update and share the information with others. Mass media is hereby effective for influencing the people’s changed views. It plays an important role on the public opinion, where the people are interested to gain deep insight about any topic for improving knowledge and skill. The strengths of the identity formation theory are it focuses on identity crisis, emphasises on rational and adaptive nature and enhancing interactions with social influences (Havens and Lotz, 2017). It is playing crucial role in mass media to understand the social aspects, where the people are willing to gather and explore a vast range of information for better interaction and communication. The major weaknesses of the theory are difficulties in testing and lack of explanation of development outcomes (Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2016).

On the other hand, different role of media theory is also effective, where it is possible to explore the roles and functions of mass media in the society. As per the multi-step flow theory, it is a reciprocal nature of sharing information and influencing the beliefs, attitude and behaviour. The people’s beliefs ad attitude can be changed through mass media interactions as well as through the sharing of information, the individuals can change their behaviour in long run. Two step flow theory is also effective where the information provider can share proper data and knowledge with the information receivers in the society (Husin, Ismail and Ab Rahman, 2016). Hereby, the theory is effective to enhance communication and improve the activities to share messages with the social communities (Akimova et al., 2019). Mass media is playing influencing role in the society, where the activities and the messages on mass media influence the cultural beliefs, attitude and lifestyle of the individuals across the social communities. Hence, mss media includes the methods of communication which reaches the large numbers of public across different social communities. In the same time, the vast range of population can gain the knowledge and information related to their field of interest (Valkenburg, 2017). There are different Medias such as television, internet, radios and newspapers which are effective way to hare the message and news to huge population. The theory of role of media is hereby effective to identify the roles of mass media (Vandenbosch and Eggermont, 2016). The theory also provides a scope to improve communication and it gives a way to the public to access latest news and information through the mass media platform. The major weaknesses are lack of explanation of identifying authentic internet sites to gain valid news and messages, poor management of the news and articles and miscommunication and misinterpretation (Akimova et al., 2019).

Conclusion

Mass media is paying a crucial role in the recent era of globalisation to share the messages and information with a vast range of public across different social communities across the globe. The identity formation theory is appropriate in this regard to identify the social activities and acknowledge the roles of mass media. For idea generation and creating own personality, the people access the mass Medias including television, radios, internet and newspaper for gathering valid range of information. It further helps to change the attitude and behaviour of the people where the individuals try to explore new information and thoughts for better understanding. On the other hand, the role of mass media theory is also effective for acknowledging the roles of mass media, where it is effective platform to share authentic news and information among the people which further ensure social influence across the globe. It is playing an important role in recent era of digitalisation and globalisation, where the people can have the option to be updated with attest news and information through mass media communication. Hence, both the theories are effective to explore the roles of mass media in changing the attitude, belief of the people and influence social activities.

Essay plan

For the essay, it is necessary to seek proper information and gather evidences related to mass media. In this study, the researcher tries to choose two social theories to identify the role of mass media and the two theories are identity formation theory and the role of mass media theory. Acknowledging the identity formation theory by reviewing the theory and concept of identity generation through mass media activities is effective to evaluate the theory. After that, the role of media theory is evaluated by gathering the information about the roles of mass media. In the recent eyras, mass media is playing a crucial role, where the roles are analysed in terms of social influences, idea generation, and identity formation in the society. The essay also provides a scope to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of both the theories in terms of identifying the role of mass media. The study is also effective to understand that mass media is playing an essential role to enhance communication and it provides an opportunity to share the messages and latest news with the social communities across the globe. The essay is ended with proper conclusion, where both the theories are evaluated to utilise the mass media for enhancing communication and sharing information.

Reference List

• Akimova, I., Motorina, I., Popova, A. and Chernysheva, A., 2019. Mechanisms of Social Identity Formation: the Media and the Higher Education System. In 4th International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Humanities (ICCESSH 2019). Atlantis Press.
• Havens, T. and Lotz, A., 2017. Understanding media industries. London: Oxford University Press.
• Husin, M.M., Ismail, N. and Ab Rahman, A., 2016. The roles of mass media, word of mouth and subjective norm in family takaful purchase intention. Journal of Islamic Marketing.
• Valkenburg, P.M., 2017. Understanding self-effects in social media. Human Communication Research, 43(4), pp.477-490.
• Vandenbosch, L. and Eggermont, S., 2016. The interrelated roles of mass media and social media in adolescents’ development of an objectified self-concept: A longitudinal study. Communication Research, 43(8), pp.1116-1140.