Four Theoretical Frameworks to Mass Media

Four Theoretical Frameworks

In Nancy Baym's book, Personal Connections in the Digital Age, she discusses how media affects our everyday lives both individually and as society in its entirety. In the second chapter of the book, she breaks down four theoretical frameworks that she uses to discuss the affect that mass media has on us and the affect that we have on mass media. Technological determinism, social construction of technology, social shaping of technology, and domestication of technology are the frameworks that she mentions. For me personally, the social shaping of technology has been the most prominent and influential of the frameworks.

Diving into Social Shaping

The social shaping of technology is a combination of technological determinism and social construction of technology, which is why I think it is the most influential. In class we compared the social shaping of technology to be similar to centrist beliefs. With that being said, it is important to think both short-term and long-term with the way that mass media shapes our social lives. The social shaping of technology not only refers to mass media shapes and affects us, but also how we shape and affect mass media. For example, mass media obviously affects our daily lives. Whether we're listening to the radio on the way to work, or watching the news before going to bed, the news that the media supplies us with is affecting our daily routine and outlook on life. In reverse, we are also affecting the media, the more we use it in different varieties of ways, causes the mass media to change; cellphones are always being updated in order to compete with other forms of media, and new technology is always arriving in order to give us something new to fathom over.

Mass Media's Affect on Us

Mass media feeds us everyday. As I like to think, there are now six main food groups: Fruits/Vegetables, Breads, Dairy Products, Meat/Fish/Alternatives, Fats/Sugars, and Social Media. 

In today's society we are built to feel as though we need social media just as we need food and water. At the end of the day when you look back on how everything went you think, Did I eat all of my fruits and vegetables today? How many glasses of water did I drink? Is another person in my graduating class really pregnant? Did I remember to write on Kristen's Facebook wall to say Happy Birthday?

In today's society, we live off of social media.

Although it is possible to get by without using social media, many people can't imagine a day without it. Technology has had so much of an affect on us today, that there have even been support groups that help people that are addicted to social media. As children today grow up, one of the biggest issues people are worried about, is the amount of time a child spends on technology each day because they are worried this problem will on get worse as they age.

Our Affect on Mass Media

We feed off of mass media. With this, mass media and the technology industry grows. Whether it's new filters on Snapchat, Twitter updates, or reactions to Facebook posts, mass media is changing based upon our feedback. The cycle of using mass media and mass media using us is continuous. The more we use social media platforms, the more we become familiar with them, the more we find things we want changed about them, and the more our feedback is used to better enhance the site, to get more users, that will then repeat the process. Mass media is constantly changing in order to fulfill our needs. 

I NEED to stream this basketball game live to my Facebook so that all of my friends can watch it and see how great my court side seats are. 

But do you actually NEED to do that? You're just going to end up watching the entire game through the screen on your phone instead of enjoying the opportunity that is right in front of you.

But how can we resist this urge? When the iPhone 7 just came out and has a better camera than we've ever owned in our entire life? With two lenses you can't go wrong now. Our use of technology 24/7 and desire to show everyone what we're doing, when we're doing it (including a snapchat picture of us going to the bathroom) has forced mass media to keep up with us.