Sociology presentation on social control of media

2. • Social Control refers to measures used to ensure that people act in
accordance with the expectations of the society.

3. • The media refers to the main means of mass communication which
includes the television, the internet, the radio, the newspaper.

4. • The Functionalist Perspective;
This perspective generally views all aspects in life and how they benefit
society on a whole. In relation to media, the functionalist perspective
highlighted four different functions of media to society.

5. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• Commercial Functions;
Television commercials can carry significant cultural currency. For some, the
advertisements they see on the television give rise to a feeling of wanting to
adapt what is being placed in the ad.

6. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
For example, an advertisement that may appear everyday on the television
about hair creams making hair straight will evoke within the respective
gender a feeling of having to look that way. Hence it becomes a state of
social control that persons are viewed the odd one out if the hair isn’t
straight.

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8. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• Entertainment Functions;
This is an obvious function of media, that is, to bring fort the entertainment
value. Most persons, when asked why they watch television or go to the
movies would answer that they enjoy doing so. However many if not all are
unaware that what is displayed in entertainment format later becomes an agent
of socialisation.

9. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• For example, many persons, mainly the males, enjoy watching movies
filled with gun activities and killing. Researches have shown that this is
one of the main influences, beside environmental factors, of an individual
becoming murderers and criminals.

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11. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• Social Norm Functions;
Even while the media is selling goods and providing entertainment, it also
serves to socialise persons. This aids in passing these same norms, values
and beliefs to upcoming generations. In fact we are socialised and re-
socialised by media throughout life’s course.

12. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• For example, in the past homosexuals were seen as total outcast within
most if not all societies however with the help of movies, series shows,
songs, music videos and internet sites, homosexuality have became just
another norm of life as the heterosexuals. In fact, through these means as
well, some states have taken the liberty of legalising these types of
marriages.

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14. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• Life Changing Functions;
Without a doubt, a manifest function of media is to change persons lives,
sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Whether one may
approve of it or not, once they utilise the availability of the media, their lives
are bound to experience changes. These changes may be instant or may occur
over a period of time.

15. THE FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE
• For example, an individual who has no interest in consuming fast foods
because of health reasons is influenced by the reoccurring advertisements
about pizzas, burgers etc. The enticements of these types of ads makes
resisting hard to accomplish thus there are lots of persons who live on fast
foods. Researches have shown this resulting to why there are so any obese
persons existing.

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17. • The Conflict Perspective;
The conflict perspective focuses on the creation and reproduction of social
inequalities with the help of the media. For example most movies that are
released portray persons working in jobs and highly rarely as their own boss
running their own operations. Therefore this forces individuals to believe that
working in jobs for a boss rather than being the boss is the norm of life and a
position that all should be in to be “successful” in life.

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19. This perspective also focuses on who controls the media, and how the media promotes
the norms of the upper class, sometimes but rarely the middle class as well. For
example, many individuals strive to obtain enough money to buy houses that the upper
class lives in, to drive cars that the upper class drives, and also to generally live the
type of lives the upper class typically lives. However to do so the working class have
to determinedly work for the capitalist within society to gain money therefore
providing the industry owners (the capitalist) with an effective work force.

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21. • The Feminist Perspective;
This perspective views how the media views women or rather the types of
females that are exposed through the media. In several movies, advertising
campaigns and music videos, women are seen as whores who are either with
many males at a time or they are having sexual relations with many partners.

22. THE FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE
• This allows females to conform to the ideology that females ought to
behave this way therefore regenerating in contemporary societies are
female whores and deceiving females who cannot satisfy with one
partner at a time.

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24. There are numerous ways in which media promotes social control, however,
only five will be discussed;
It dictates what we eat
It dictates what we say
It dictates the way we speak
It dictates the way we dress
It dictates the way we behave

25. • Dictating What We Eat;
It is quite noticeable that the most advertisements that appears on the
television is about food, whether it may be telling you about fast foods or
healthy foods. When these ads are taken into consideration, its is expecting
one to purchase these meals while it is carrying out the function of controlling
society.

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27. MEDIA PROMOTING SOCIAL CONTROL
• Dictating What We Say;
It is apparent that the words or phrases that are used over the internet (social
media) or television movies are the same words that are replicated into
current times. Whether it may be a popular phrase, or even indecent jargons,
they are utilised in accomplishing certain communication needs presently.

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29. MEDIA PROMOTING SOCIAL CONTROL
• Dictating The Way We Speak;
Differently from the words or phrases we mutter daily, media impacts the
way we formulate these words or phrases. It may be the accent we speak
everyday or the fashion in speaking like a media famous individual. For
example, persons are fond of speaking like American gangsters with the
reference of people as dogs with every sentence expressed.

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31. MEDIA PROMOTING SOCIAL CONTROL
• Dictating The Way We Dress;
In addition to the influences that the media has upon everyone’s life is the way each
and everyone dresses. It can be seen easily where persons imitate the style or fashion
of dressing from famous musical artists, rappers, and actors that are published through
the media. For example, the widespread desires for gold watches and big chains that
are worn by rappers can be seen in the emulating process today.

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33. MEDIA PROMOTING SOCIAL CONTROL
• Dictating The Way We Behave;
It’s a given that the media dictates the way in which people behave as the
same behaviour displayed in movies and music videos are been mimicked
presently. For example, it’s a common abuse of social media to carry rumours
around and similarly persons do so within schools, even in the work place and
other environments.

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