How do media affect our lives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

How do media affect our lives - Essay Example As can easily be observed, the excessive that the Internet captures, comes out from none other than other activities people indulge in such as work, social and personal activities etc. This paper investigates into the impact of Internet on the various distinctive aspects of the social and personal lives of people associated with this medium or are involved in using this medium in a modus operandi fashion. Ever since its evolution, the Internet has transformed every aspect of how people live their lives. It has attracted people with its tremendous ability to provide information and integrate enhanced communication facilities into their lives (Hendersen 39). Internet has probably touched every field and walk of people's lives; whether it is working life, social life, personal relationship, education, communication etc. It has even changed the human perceptions encompassing solitude and loneliness. A person sitting alone at some place with a PC with him cannot today be called as lonely. He is likely to be surrounded with a lot of human companions online. The effects of Internet media on the lives of people are appearing as abounding these days. As people spend more and more time using the Internet, browsing through the web sites and chatting with different people, they are becoming more acquainted with the new world easily accessible to them at all times. It is impacting upon the whole spectrum of human lives, while changing the way people work, interact and entertain themselves with the technology. The most prominent aspect that is being consistently influenced by Internet media is the social lives of people. Bargh and McKenna put this as, "no one today disputes that the Internet is likely to have a significant impact on social life" (575). The social life of human beings is characterized with how people interact with each other, how often they converge to improve the relationships and how much time they denote to each other. Internet is likely to have more than influenced a person's social life, i.e., it has been systematically re-shaping the way a person engages in social activity. This medium involves exotic means of communication, unique ways of human interaction, and different fashion of entertainment and most importantly the activities for the utilization of time. Nie and Erbring emphasize that, "as Internet use grows, Americans report they spend less time with friends and family, shopping in stores or watching television, and more time working for their employers at home; without cutting back their hours in the office" (280). The Internet has undoubtedly revolutionized communication and interaction in the social system. Email, chat rooms, and even websites are allowing more and more techniques to precipitate effective communication between people. Persons living at great distances from each other now conveniently interact with each other in a matter of a few clicks and that too without any restriction of time. Bargh and McKenna illuminate that "rather than being an isolating, personally and socially maladaptive activity, communicating with others over the Internet facilitates the formation of close and meaningful new relationships within a relatively safe