easily influenced

Let's talk about media influence.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who watches the news and automatically assumes that whatever the reporter is saying is true. This leads to me to this question: Do you believe everything that you hear on podcasts/the radio, read on Twitter/Facebook, see on TV/the news, and read in the newspaper/magazines?

I'll be the first person to admit that I am easily influenced by the media. If you know me, I am a sucker for tabloids and celebrity gossip. If I'm in the supermarket and happen to pass by the magazine rack, I am usually going straight to the People, Star, and Entertainment Weekly. If it's written in big letters on the front page, it's gotta be true...right?

(Credit: Giphy)

If you're weren't aware, what I have mentioned above is said to be considered as the bullet/hypodermic theory of mass communication. The bullet/hypodermic theory is when messages are "injected" into the minds of a mass audience. This theory is when the audience behaves and feels a certain desired way, making them almost defenseless from the information. This information is believed to be true based on the vulnerability of the audience, and the lack of knowledge or evidence. When it comes to this theory, there are little to no facts to back up the information, however, the audience still believes it to be true because the information is coming from something they trust.

One example of this theory is when everyone believed that the world was ending in 2012. I can remember that it was all anybody could talk about for years. At the time, there were little to no facts to back up this theory, however, the feeling and message of fear was inserted into everyone's minds unknowingly. In 2009, a movie titled "2012" created even more fear, as this supposed catastrophe was only a few years away. There was even a song with the same title by Jay Sean and Nicki Minaj, with lyrics that read, "Party like, like it's the end of the world. We gonna party like, like it's 2012." The media had bestowed this fear and panic into the minds of the entire world, and we had no choice but to believe it was true.

(Credit: YouTube)

(Credit: YouTube)

Another example of this was the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first few months, when little was known about the virus, the entire world was panicking, trying to protect themselves from getting sick. The number of cases increased drastically each day, with the death toll climbing higher and higher. We were told not to leave our houses, not to see our friends and families, to remain six feet away from each other, and to wear masks everywhere we went. Not being a scientist or medical professional, all I could do was base my thoughts, beliefs, and opinions about COVID on the information I was receiving from the media. Whether it was true or not, the media told me how I should behave and think.

(Credit: Western Illinois University)

And then we have the concept of Fake News...

(Credit: Tenor)

Y'all already know what I'm referring to. The Donald Trump presidency was pretty much (in my opinion) 100% an attempt at the bullet/hypodermic needle theory. I don't want to get political on my blog, but I will say that the Trump presidency was full of foundationaless and unconfirmed information that was injected into the minds of all Americans. We were a nation divided with half the country believing Donald Trump because they trusted him as the leader of our country, and the other half of the country that didn't trust him and felt like he was leading us astray.

The term fake news means news articles that are intentionally and verifiably false, designed to manipulate people’s perceptions of real facts, events, and statements. Fake news is fabricated information that mimics news media content in form but lacks the news media’s editorial norms and processes for ensuring the accuracy and credibility of information. -Center for Information Technology and Society at UC Santa Barbara

So, I'm curious..

- Did you believe the world was going to end in 2012?

- Did you listen to the CDC guidelines during the height of the COVID pandemic?

- Do you trust the words of the President of the United States?

Let me know in the comments.