Press the ‘off button’ on the media
Tweeting, typing, texting,
Bleeping, blogging, logging,
Pinging, ringing, singing.
These are the sounds and symphonies of the 21 st century: a time and place saturated with
screens, cell phones, selfies and self-destruction. With wifi signals colonising the landscapes
of our air, homes, pockets, hands, dinner tables, and even securing an invite to special
occasions – it seems as though humanity has brought about a self-inflicted eleventh plague: 7
billion people trapped in the claustrophobic confines of social media.
Once upon a time, ‘Amazon’ was a jungle, a “Wii” was something you did in the loo, and
people held hands, not handhelds. From the Original Sin of eating the forbidden fruit, to the
poisoned apple of our childhood fairy-tale books- humans have proven that history truly does
repeat itself: as we have let yet another apple initiate the decline of man.
The object of media is to transfer ideas from one person to another. People in media are
skilled at promoting ideas and concepts favourable to a particular audience. Therefore, these
agents are constantly looking for viewers susceptible to what is being promoted. Publicity
thrives on controversy so people with a message to transmit do so, via different types of
social media in this day and age that marketers use to exploit impressionable people. The sad
reality is that the use of media and technology is used in a negative way that opens up the
door to hate speech, racial insults manipulation and political propaganda.
A favourable target are women and young girls and their desire to improve their looks.
Imagine this: blonde hair, small waist, long legs and of course a good figure. I have just
described a toy distributed to young girls, a Barbie doll to be specific. This is a prime example
of how media start brainwashing them. At five years of age, I would fixate over my and
Barbie's differences. In an article written by Jeff Smith, for the 'Good' website, it has been
discovered that it would be physically impossible to look like Barbie. The doll's head would be
too heavy, and her body would be unable to support it. Her waist is 71cm whereas the
average woman's waist is 94cm. This shows how the advertising industry unrealistically paints
an object or an idea, giving unachievable expectations. It is not healthy to implant
subconsciously the message that women should look like dolls in the minds of the younger
generation.
The sad reality of this situation is that children as young as the age of thirteen harm
themselves because they are led to believe they are unattractive. An article for the 'Today'
website, written by Rehana Murray, has shown that 87.37% of women compare their bodies
to images depicted online. This is a terrifying realisation as recently an excessive number of
young people are on social media.
Last year the social media firm TikTok, updated their policies by attempting to block incorrect
information used to spread anti-Semitism. This was a welcome admission that they had prior
to this allowed hate speech to be published. It is a pity that more technology applications do
not do the same. Instead, a result of the lenient rules the Social Networking sites abide by in
2015 a man named Mcebo Dlamini took to Facebook to voice his opinion on Hitler. He stated,
Tweeting, typing, texting,
Bleeping, blogging, logging,
Pinging, ringing, singing.
These are the sounds and symphonies of the 21 st century: a time and place saturated with
screens, cell phones, selfies and self-destruction. With wifi signals colonising the landscapes
of our air, homes, pockets, hands, dinner tables, and even securing an invite to special
occasions – it seems as though humanity has brought about a self-inflicted eleventh plague: 7
billion people trapped in the claustrophobic confines of social media.
Once upon a time, ‘Amazon’ was a jungle, a “Wii” was something you did in the loo, and
people held hands, not handhelds. From the Original Sin of eating the forbidden fruit, to the
poisoned apple of our childhood fairy-tale books- humans have proven that history truly does
repeat itself: as we have let yet another apple initiate the decline of man.
The object of media is to transfer ideas from one person to another. People in media are
skilled at promoting ideas and concepts favourable to a particular audience. Therefore, these
agents are constantly looking for viewers susceptible to what is being promoted. Publicity
thrives on controversy so people with a message to transmit do so, via different types of
social media in this day and age that marketers use to exploit impressionable people. The sad
reality is that the use of media and technology is used in a negative way that opens up the
door to hate speech, racial insults manipulation and political propaganda.
A favourable target are women and young girls and their desire to improve their looks.
Imagine this: blonde hair, small waist, long legs and of course a good figure. I have just
described a toy distributed to young girls, a Barbie doll to be specific. This is a prime example
of how media start brainwashing them. At five years of age, I would fixate over my and
Barbie's differences. In an article written by Jeff Smith, for the 'Good' website, it has been
discovered that it would be physically impossible to look like Barbie. The doll's head would be
too heavy, and her body would be unable to support it. Her waist is 71cm whereas the
average woman's waist is 94cm. This shows how the advertising industry unrealistically paints
an object or an idea, giving unachievable expectations. It is not healthy to implant
subconsciously the message that women should look like dolls in the minds of the younger
generation.
The sad reality of this situation is that children as young as the age of thirteen harm
themselves because they are led to believe they are unattractive. An article for the 'Today'
website, written by Rehana Murray, has shown that 87.37% of women compare their bodies
to images depicted online. This is a terrifying realisation as recently an excessive number of
young people are on social media.
Last year the social media firm TikTok, updated their policies by attempting to block incorrect
information used to spread anti-Semitism. This was a welcome admission that they had prior
to this allowed hate speech to be published. It is a pity that more technology applications do
not do the same. Instead, a result of the lenient rules the Social Networking sites abide by in
2015 a man named Mcebo Dlamini took to Facebook to voice his opinion on Hitler. He stated,
