Mass Culture
The people of this society may be interconnected but still, they lack a common purpose in life. In the field of sociology, the people living in a mass society is said to have a gesellschaft type of relationship. Gesellshaft is a type of human relationship in a society which is considered as mechanical since the people of such society only have impersonal associations with each other. This is far different from gemeinschaft which is defined as the social relationship characterized by people having unified goals and beliefs (Naremore and Bratlinger,1991).
A good example of a gesellschaft is the relationship of the people living in a business capital of a particular country, the people living in this particular area usually are diversified and often interacts only because of their works or because theyre work calls for them to mingle around with others impersonally. It is very different from the people living in a small village in a rural area who are personally connected with each other and share unified traditional practices and beliefs (McMullen,2009).
Mass may be differentiated from the public in such a way that the term mass pertains to a group of people who are just feeding on information without even digesting it while the term public refers to a group of people who, after feeding on the information, digests it and draws feedback and conclusions from it as well (Strychacz,1993).
The mass media plays a vital role in a mass society. The use of this may either make or break the bonds of the people living in a certain society. In a positive view, the influence of mass media could mobilize the people to pursue a common goal but looking at it in a negative perspective, mass media could also destroy the peoples relationship just by using black propaganda, thus the usage of mass media in a society is a very critical decision that leaders should consider (Huyssen,1986).
Propaganda may be divided into three categories black, gray and white. Black propaganda is used mainly to spread lies to destroy an image of a certain subject. Gray propaganda is released without having a goal of letting the people know whether it is fictional or not. While white propaganda is focused more on diverting the attention of the people from a bad news to a good one by magnifying stories pleasing to the listeners instead of dealing deeply into upsetting phenomena (Baughman,2006).
During the time of the World War I, the people lack bonds which were essential in the warfare. Such situation calls for the motivation from the mass media, however, the people then were afraid of the effects of the mass media. The mass society theory established by the Frankfurt school headed by Adorno and Horkheimer back then is based only on the assumptions that the mass media is powerful and dangerous therefore must be eliminated, that the ordinary people do not have the capacity to process the information given by the media, thus they are mostly capable of being harmed, that autocratic leadership is the only way to restore the bonds between the people brought about by social chaos in the society and that deeper understanding of the media messages might be disregarded which may destroy the traditions of the civilizations (Huyssen,1986).
Though the views and opinions of the people during the old times seemed to be more on the pessimistic side, some of their assumptions were in fact, still applicable in the modern times. The use of the mass media nowadays is abused at some points but of course, we cannot sacrifice the benefits that we get from the mass media this days (Adorno,1996).
The transition on the type of messages presented by the mass media during the 2nd World War had faced many criticisms from various groups. During this time, fearful messages on wars were covered by unrealistic programs such as soap operas and fictional films. The critics argue that the mass media tries to divert the attention of the viewers by using idealistic concepts, and that this programs were mainly concerned more on the ratings and not on the information really needed to be disseminated by them, therefore it is pretty much obvious that what the media is up to is for the good of the media corporations and not for the good of the people nor the society. The mass media during this time denied the problems faced by the society. That the people were living in a society which is a make-believed society and superficial (Lang,2009).
Modern mass society culture theorists believe that the important values and concepts are now being replaced by consumerism. Theodore Geiger , a Danish sociologist and a renowned critic of the mass society theory said on one of his works that Today mutual dependence . . . exists among people, most of them strangers and personally indifferent to one another. What connects them are not the bonds of sympathy but the necessities of life (Lang,2009).
Various critics also commented that the mass society theory, unlike any other theory does not unify or organize the people in a society and thus, it cannot actually be considered as a theory. What the media only does is to advertise and is not even concern with the peoples welfare. The major issue being faced by the mass society theory is not the quality of the mass media in a given society but more on the functions and position that it holds (Lang,2009).
The mass media indeed had been of great influenced to the different sectors of our society for the past years. The scope of the media nowadays had broaden up to the extent that it can even influence or in a sort, brainwash the people as early as childhood. The mass media, like any other sectors in the society has its own advantages and disadvantages, as what was said, it could either make or break the bonds among the people, its just up to the people receiving mass media messages on how are they going to react to it.
Also, it is good that the government of different countries, now implement laws which could protect the people especially children, however, strict compliance to it by must be by media corporation must be observed.
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