That whole last post on Media Dependency Theory may have gone over people's heads and seemed a little far-fetched, so I figured I would give you all a few more real world examples. These ones aren't scientific studies, so much as they are things I've noticed and maybe you all have too.
Here's an example of media dependency I've gone through today, and went through about a month ago as well. Today where I live we're suffering through some severe weather. Now, I (like a lot of people I'm sure) have come to rely on the media to tell me what to expect weather-wise. The news on television and on the internet let me know what to expect and what to do. Earlier today, I watched the news and was informed of this severe weather to be expected. When I lived in Colorado we had tornado alarms that would go off when tornadoes were spotted in the area and that was your cue to react accordingly. When I moved to Tennessee I discovered that where we live now, you can't hear the tornado alarm. Our power went out and I spent the day hiding out in my basement because I no longer had access to the television, radio or internet to tell me whether or not a tornado was in my area. I was dependent on the media for this information.
Another example of this is how much people rely on Facebook to communicate with others. I (like a lot of people, again) use Facebook to communicate with a lot of people. There are a handful of people, I have found, that I speak to primarily through Facebook. That means when I'm away from my computer or my internet is down, I don't have the ability to contact those people. I'm dependent on that particular media for social interactions.
Make sense? :)
No comments:
Post a Comment