“The media has replaced family, society and religion as the main source of collective identity” –Discuss

“The media has replaced family, society and religion as the main source of collective identity” –Discuss

The media has evolved over the years, as there has been a proliferation of new technologies we as humans have been lured in and have grown an attachment to the media without even noticing this may be because the media performs four main functions in our lives it gives us a sense of aspiration, identity, instruction and escapism as C.Wright Mills suggested .The statement “The media has replaced family, society and religion” suggests that the media has taken over these aspects of people’s life’s that were once important. The creation of Facebook and Twitter has had a significant impact on youths life’s as they are able to have an ‘embodied experience’ as Merleu Pontys theory reveals. The functions that allow us to upload pictures and share culture views in society give us a sense of enhanced self esteem especially when others comment and like our posts. From my personal experience I do feel that Facebook and Blackberry messenger have enabled me to forefront my identity and advertise my personal view points to encounter a collective identity. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be applied to the Facebook users as the effect of joining a Facebook group can give a sense of belonging to the individual.  In addition to this it can be argued that family were once the people who gave youth these feelings but now they are being supplemented with Social networks instead which construct a collective identity for youth as they are able to relate and interact freely with people who have become their ‘techno-family’

The emergence of social media technologies have enabled us to stay in contact with family and friends through instant messages on Blackberry messenger, which ‘37 percent of teenagers own’ and also through the use of Skype as a result of this family  time  is not as important as it used to be in the early ages before technologies existed.  This has had an significant effect on marriage statistics as more people are having long distance relationships and keeping close relations due to social networks and mobile phones, It can be said that the world has become ‘the world has become a global social village’ due to the high use of social networks.

Richard Dyers star theory states that ‘stars represent shared cultural values, attitudes and also represent a specific ideology’ this can be seen when looking at how youth imitate behaviours of people in their society and also their favourite actor or for young boys rappers. Also the use of having websites such as YouTube and MySpace has enable youths to portray their identities to other but also eliminates the sense of togetherness and sharing in society.  Hence why most people tend to not go to music concerts, instead they prefer to watch a music video online which will give them a sense in order to escape from their everyday lives or to build their own identity. Blumler and Katz audience gratification theory ‘audiences are active consumers who select and choose the media they consume according to various needs that they have’ can be applied to the use of online shopping. As many people tend to shop online it shows how people are less sociable and do anything to escape society. This is a significant contrast to the early 1990’s where people shopped in their local communities and whilst doing so exchanged words with people in their local communities. For many living at this time going shopping would have been an exciting experience where as now shopping online has become the norm.

David Gauntlet’s  theory ‘identities are not ‘given’ but are constructed and negotiated can be applied to Films such as ‘Bend it like beckham’ that make religion the subject matter and show character who are unsure about their religion. Films like these are significant as they give young people who are in a similar situation a sense of reality as they are able to identify with characters and also negotiate their identity rather than going to their priest or a religious person for answers to questions they may have. The media clearly regulates our lives as they propose ideas and rules that are reflected and incorporated by us.

To conclude I agree that the media has replaced family,society and religion and have become the main source of collective identity due to the lower interest in these aspects of life. I believe that the importance of family, society and religion will remain but as the development of the media continues the interest in them will also decrease.