11 May 2022

383

The Influence of Media on Thoughts and Behavior

Format: APA

Academic level: University

Paper type: Research Paper

Words: 1539

Pages: 6

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The things around them shape the thoughts and behaviors of people. The exposure to media influences the way people think and act. In the modern world, children and adults are exposed to media. Children get access to media at an early age, and this influences their conduct and reasoning. The common media that affect the behavior and thoughts of individuals include television, music and social networks. The press portrays fast cars, designer clothes, makeup and attractive houses. People get attracted to the celebrity lifestyle after watching the images from the media. Individuals think that they should live a celebrity lifestyle which influences their behavior. Music affects the thoughts and behaviors of individuals because of the message conveyed in the songs and videos. The televisions, music and social networks influence the manner in which individuals talk, walk and act negatively and positively because they want to imitate the famous figures they listen and watch. 

The Influence of Social Networks on Thoughts and Behaviors of People

The social platforms expose people to information that have a negative or positive influence on their thoughts and behaviors. The social networks that people access include LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp, Google+ and Skype (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). Most of the information on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and Skype influence the thoughts and conduct of individuals negatively. The videos posted in the social networks contain information on pornography, violence, drug abuse, and indecent dressing. These videos influence the conduct and thoughts of the young people, and they engage in sexual activities, fights, dress indecently and abuse drugs (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). The social networks such as Google+ and Linked contain information on job opportunities and for educative purposes. The social networks assist the users in establishing the professional (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). The news anchors use the social networks to inform people of emergencies (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). The social networks can build the professionals of the users but can encourage bad behavior such as sex at an early age, drug abuse, violence and provocative dressing. The social media influence the way people communicate positively and negatively. People use abusive language when addressing their colleagues as a result of the influence of the social media. Many people in the social networks use inappropriate language in their conversations. This influences the thoughts and conduct of people who read the conversations. People use the language of celebrities to address their partners (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). The young people rudely address their parents as a result of the influence of celebrity figures or their peers in the social platforms (Christakis and Fowler, 2010). The social media users become rude to the society members due to the influence of the celebrity lifestyles.  The social networks increase the addiction of the users where they spend many hours accessing the websites. People always have the urge of accessing the social media to access information and videos. The students spend many hours in the social networks which affect their school performance (Valkenburg and Piotrowski, 2017). The social networks disrupt the daily activities carried out by people because they spend most of their time accessing the information in the media. Some people lose their hobbies and talents as a result of social media addiction (Valkenburg and Piotrowski, 2017).  The parents can monitor their children on their usage of social networks. The parents can give directions to the children on the social platforms that are informative. The strategy can build positive thoughts and behaviors among the children.  People have to look for new hobbies to reduce their addiction to social media. The other hobbies will keep them busy, and they will have limited time to access the social platforms. The second action that people should take is attending social events and meeting new people. The social settings will assist people to engage in significant activities rather than spending their time and resources on the social platforms. The users of the social platforms can disable the unwanted notifications on the social media networks. 

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The Influence of Television on Thoughts and Behaviors of People

The televisions commercials and advertisements influence the behavior of children, young people, and adults. The businesses and advertisements portray lavish lifestyles, cars, houses and dress codes. Some billboards or commercials advertise drugs and alcohol. The behaviors and thoughts of individuals change after watching the commercial on the televisions. People tend to think that they are supposed to live like the famous figures in the advertisements. Individuals behave, talk and walk like the people in the commercials. The commercials on alcohol and drugs influence individuals to consume the products because they think that it is a good lifestyle in spite of the disclaimers. The commercial on sex protection influence the young people to engage in sexual activities. The consumption of the protection pills can result in severe health effects on the young people.  Alternatively, the commercials influence people to consume quality and healthy products. Some of the commercials are educative. For instance, the commercials on sexual protection enlighten people on family planning methods. The commercials in the televisions influence the behavior of people positively and negatively. The television movies, soap operas, and series affect the conduct and thoughts of people in the society. The movies, soap operas, and series contain information on violence, love, criminal activities, lavish lifestyles, cars, houses and attractive places which affect the thoughts and behaviors of the viewers. The characters in the movies and series can use inappropriate language which can affect the conduct the conduct of the viewers. The viewers copy the behaviors of the characters in the movies and series. People walk and talk like the characters in the favorite movies or series. Some individuals express their love to their partners as portrayed in the soap operas. People copy the criminal methods used by characters in the movies or series ("How Social Media is Influencing Your Behavior - Search Engine Land," n.d.). Other individuals become violent to their wives or colleagues after watching movies that portray violent behavior. The pornographic movies promote secular behavior and sexual thoughts to the viewers. The movies can encourage the viewers to conduct rape or engage in sexual relationships ("How Social Media is Influencing Your Behavior - Search Engine Land," n.d.). The messages portrayed in the movies and series influence the social behaviors of individuals (Arias, 2016). The television movies, soap operas, and series have a negative impact on the viewers' behaviors and thoughts. The television programmes and movies influence people to have an aggressive and courageous behavior. The news anchors and reporters are aggressive. The young people copy their aggressive nature which assists them to deals with some situations in their lives. The characters in the movies or series can portray an aggressive behavior. People can think that aggressiveness is a critical element in their lives (Kirsh, 2010). The aggressive behavior assists people to face and handle situations around them.    The televisions make people lazy because they spend hours sitting down while watching their favorite movies, programmes or series. Most of the hardworking people have become lazy as a result of watching televisions. The habit of laziness can increase the viewer’s weight which causes health risks such as obesity. The exposure to the television for long hours can cause pulmonary embolism and impair the viewer’s vision.  The parents can motivate their children to take part in physical activities which will reduce their time for spending on the televisions. The kids can engage in sports and recreational activities such as swimming. The parents can replace televisions with books or board activities. The books are informative which will influence the thoughts of the children positively. The children will be bust playing the board games, and they will have limited time for watching movies or series. The parents can encourage interpersonal communication among the children to enhance their social skills. 

The Influence of Music on Thoughts and Behaviors of People

Music affects the thoughts and behaviors of the listeners negatively. The messages conveyed in negative music influence the thoughts and behaviors of the listeners in an undesirable manner. The universal messages portrayed in negative music include violence, drug abuse and sex (Mooney, 2014). Some of the music influence the way people address the adults or their peers. The music videos influence the dress code of people, and other illustrate sexual activities or drug consumption. The songs build negative thoughts of sex, rape, drug abuse, crime and violence to the listeners. The listeners imitate the bad language used by the singers when they sing along with them. People copy the lavish lifestyles including the dress codes, houses, and cars of the musicians (Mooney, 2014). Further, people imitate the walking styles of the music celebrities.  Music can influence the behavior and thoughts of the listeners positively. Some of the music conveys positive messages to the listeners. The messages can include courage, tolerance, love towards the community and peers. These messages influence the conduct and thoughts of people positively. Individuals get motivated after listening to the songs with positive messages (Potter, 2012). The songs can incorporate the listeners with positive principles such as honesty, integrity, and openness. People need to be enlightened about their ability to control their thoughts and behaviors. Self-control is an essential principle in controlling personal thoughts and conduct. People should be enlightened about appreciating the messages of the music rather than thinking about it. Individuals should be taught the real purpose and motive of music which is entertainment.  In conclusion, the media is commonly used by people around the world. Media can influence the thoughts and behaviors of people positively or negatively. The common media that control the thoughts and conduct of individuals include televisions, social networks, and music. The television commercials or advertisements can be informative and educative, but they portray messages that have a negative influence on the viewers’ thoughts and behaviors. The social networks contain information that has negative effects on peoples’ conduct and thoughts. The social platforms convey messages of sexual activities, violence, crime and social exclusion. The messages conveyed in music affect the behaviors and thoughts of the listeners in a negative a positive manner.

References

Arias, E. (2016). How does media influence social norms? A field experiment on the role of common knowledge. Working paper. Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2010). Connected: The incredible power of social networks and how they shape our lives. London: Harper. How Social Media is Influencing Your Behavior - Search Engine Land. Retrieved from https://searchengineland.com/how-social-media-is-influencing-your-behavior-40615 Kirsh, S. J. (2010). Media and youth: A developmental perspective. Mooney, H. (2014). How does Media Influence the Way People Behave?. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20141120050453-2269207-how-does-the-media-influence-the-way-people-behave Potter, W. J. (2012). Media Effects. Valkenburg, P., & Piotrowski, J. T. (2017). Plugged in: How media attract and affect youth.

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StudyBounty. (2023, September 14). The Influence of Media on Thoughts and Behavior.
https://studybounty.com/the-influence-of-media-on-thoughts-and-behavior-research-paper

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