Media are tools that make our lives more convenient. As we learned from the media deprivation experiment everyone is very attached to the different media in our society. When people tried to spend some time without their favorite medium it became very difficult for them continue their lives normally. Whether it was their phone, the internet, or the television, most people could not last long without it. This is because from the moment we are born we are immediately immersed in a world in which media are part of everyone’s daily lives. We don’t even notice the media we use because we are so accustomed to them. In describing media Croteau and Hoynes say, “They are like the air we breathe, ever present yet rarely considered” (Croteau and Hoynes 3). From this quote we can see that people are so used to being surrounded by media that they don’t think about their interactions with media.
When I think about the use of media in my life I cannot imagine myself without it. It plays such a crucial role in both my personal life and in my academic life that I would not be able to function normally without it; a simple task such as finding out what my homework is would be difficult to perform without the use of media. And I am sure that it is the same for most people in the world. Almost every task we perform in our lives has some sort of media incorporated into it. For example, if you want cook something new, you might take a look at a recipe book, and although you might not realize it, the recipe book is a type of media. Another good way to imagine life without media is to imagine life without electricity. This is something I have experienced a few times because I lived in Miami where we lose power for days at a time because of hurricanes. Life completely changes. Even though in times without electricity you still have some exposure to media such as radios and print, you still get a sense of what life without media would be like because you lose access to other very important types of media such as the internet and television. You realize that life can go on without media, but you find that performing tasks that you could easily perform before now become much more difficult to accomplish and in some cases they cannot be done. For example, you can’t go online, read the news, and you can’t get in contact with other people unless you see them in person. In moments like these you realize how the media are really tools to make people’s lives more convenient.
Without media in our lives we will not be in danger, but life would be much more different than what we are used to. In today’s society people are used to being able to do things with such ease and convenience and this is in part thanks to the different media we can use. Croteau and Hoynes tell us that if media were eliminated we not be able to perform many of the activities that we take for granted, such as going to the movies, listening to music, or watching television. Thanks to media entertaining ourselves is very easy; with the simple click of a remote you can turn on your television and immediately be engaged. Without media entertaining ourselves would require much more work. Crouteau and Hoynes also tell us that government and businesses would operate much more differently. For example, without media it would be much more difficult for businesses to become popular without being able to advertise because media are necessary for advertising, whether it is in print, on television or on the radio.
As society becomes more advanced our use of media will increase because every day people are looking for ways to make their lives more convenient and pleasurable. The different media will help us accomplish this as they have been helping us in the past.
Bibliography:
1. Croteau, David, and William Hoynes. Media Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge, 2003. Print.
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