Mass media

I think the media has complete control over the way people think, view others, and view themselves. The only people immune to the effect of the media are those who are separate themselves from it completely, which is almost no one. Thoughts and actions we consider original were most likely influenced by the media, whether we realize it or not.

Almost all people today watch television, listen to the radio, and see advertisements almost everywhere they go. Advertisers have become incredibly skilled at their jobs to the point where you do not recognize their control over the masses. Yes, in cities and other densely populated areas, billboards,  posters, and people hired to hand out pamphlets and brochures are obvious signs of advertisement, but advertisers can be much trickier than that. By making a famous actor where a certain product, they can influence you to buy something that they want you to buy, in order to make them money. They appeal to basic human desires to make you feel as if you need this product. The most prevalent one is obviously sex; a cell phone becomes much more desirable with an attractive person holding it.

I do my best to be independent from the media, but I find myself bending to its will. I buy vinyl records even though there are much more efficient ways to buy music. I wear certain clothes because the media has told us clothes aren’t used to just keep us warm, but they define who we are. The media uses its endless resources to convince people like me that we must define ourselves, to make us feel independent and like individuals, but we are just becoming indistinguishable, mindless sheep in the in the eyes of an omnipotent and all powerful sheppard that is the mass media.