Digital Media And Its Impact On Society

How has Digital Media influenced (or changed) interpersonal communication?

Before the introduction of digital media, people gathered together in groups and had chat about their daily routine and important matters. This sitting together kept them close and connected to each other. People used to enjoy casual discussions at clubs, bars, and public gatherings. With the advent of digital media, these face-to-face interactions became less important and people choose to stay updated with each other on electronic media rather than by physically visiting each other.

Digital media provided us with new mediums to stay connected by introducing us to social media, mobile phones, and communication websites. Digital media has made a huge effect on our interpersonal communication. It is a debatable topic whether these new technologies have positive or adverse effects on our communication. However, it is true that it made our communications easy and fast. With the new forms of media, information is traveling faster and everyone in the world is connected to each other through these kinds of media.

The most recent form of media i.e. social media is changing the traditional way of communication. It allows us to connect and communicate with each other. Before the introduction of social media, people were limited to communicating on the telephone or by verbal communication in person, but with the progression of social media websites and access to the internet, we can contact any of our friends, plan meet ups, events and interact with each other on the go. It allows us to connect to a much larger crowd and contact anyone in our social circle who are living far away. In research, nearly 65% of American adults use social networking websites and consider it more suitable than traditional networking. (Perrin. A, 2015).

Mobile phones have decreased our distances and made our communication fast and more efficient. Our young generation is so much relying on mobile phones for communication with each other. Texting is found to be more efficient than face-to-face meetings. We can communicate with anyone anytime without having to travel all the way and visit that person physically. With the increased pace of the world, nobody has time to actually visit each other and convey messages, mobile phones are saving us from this burden by the facilities of texting and calling. The most positive aspect of mobile phone communication is accessibility. There are several online platforms that allow us to communicate effectively, by ensuring confidentiality. In research, it was discovered that mobile phone and WhatsApp communication is proven to be a low-cost solution for communication and information sharing among health care workers in Kenya (Farmer, M. Y., Liu, A., & Dotson, M.,2016). It has also served in increasing health awareness among adults. The “Happy Quit” program introduced in China was aimed to increase awareness among Chinese adults about the adverse effects of cigarettes and motivate them to quit smoking (Liao et al, 2016).

Although digital media has revolutionized communication there are some concerns about these advancements too. It has made us less active in face-to-face communication and made us too dependent on digital media that we can’t imagine living without these devices anymore. In short, the advancements in digital media has made a positive effect on interpersonal communication, and has been proved that the power of social media, mobile phones, and the internet will continue to improve our communication methods in the coming decades.

References

Farmer, M. Y., Liu, A., & Dotson, M. (2016). Mobile Phone Applications (WhatsApp) Facilitate Communication Among Student Health Volunteers in Kenya. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(2), S54-S55.

Liao, Y., Wu, Q., Tang, J., Zhang, F., Wang, X., Qi, C., & Cohen, J. (2016). The efficacy of mobile phone-based text message interventions (‘Happy Quit’) for smoking cessation in China. BMC public health, 16(1), 833.

Perrin, A. (2015). Social media usage. Pew research center.

1. How has Digital Media influenced (or changed) children of this generation? How are their lives different than ours?

Digital media which surrounds us in every aspect is changing the way of our life. Before the introduction of digital media, children were spending time socializing and doing extracurricular activities like sports and outdoor games. After the introduction of digital media, the choice of children and their interests changed and they got attracted to its charm. Where we are benefitting from its positive effects there are also negative factors that are disturbing our natural life. Though everyone is more or less affected by its negative factors, our young generation having no knowledge of these negative factors is affected the most. Children today are extremely addicted to digital media. The reason behind this addiction is not the digital media itself, it is that they never learned to live without these facilities. Today there are a lot of available options to educate, entertain and regulate ourselves, the digital media components that are affecting children the most are mobile phones, video games, and television.

Mobile phones though have increased our connectivity with the world, its excess usage is making negative effects on us. Kids are using mobile phones to stay socially connected and gather information from the internet. However, this excessive usage is disturbing both their daily routine and education. In a study, it was found that excessive mobile phone usage is directly connected to sleep deprivation among American children, (Lauren Hale, 2015). It is increasing depression, rage, and disobedience among the children and they are losing interest in their education. This excessive usage has been a concern in many countries and people are now agreeing to restrict their children from using mobile phones.

The second biggest factor that is affecting negatively children is the excessive usage of video games. The usage of video games is encouraging children to adopt violent behavior. The things children learn from video games as they have less awareness are practically reflected in their behavior. There is an increase in the rate of harsh behavior in children as they are idealizing the violent figures they see in games. In a study, it was observed that violent behavior in children in China has a sustained relationship with excess usage of video games, and it is increasing aggression and overt behavior in them. (Wei. R, 2007).

The third most critical thing that is affecting children is the television. Television shows content for all age groups and some of the content is strictly targeted toward adults. Kids having access to television are addicted to the number of attractive programs and movies. These movies are also corrupting children’s thoughts, by seeing superhuman abilities and unnatural events. In a study by Indian researchers, it was found that there is a deep relation between movies in morality development and children adapting and applying what they see in movies in their daily life. (Singh, D. 2014). Young children’s minds are at a developmental stage and whatever they see or experience is later reflected in their behavior and perception of the world.

Due to these adverse effects, we can say that digital media has more negative effects on children than positive effects.

References

Hale, L., & Guan, S. (2015). Screen time and sleep among school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic literature review. Sleep medicine reviews, 21, 50-58.

Singh, D. (2014). Television Viewing Habits and Moral Formation of Children in Rural India. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(3), 12-16.

Wei, R. (2007). Effects of playing violent video games on Chinese adolescents’ pro-violence attitudes, attitudes toward others, and aggressive behavior. Cyberpsychology & behavior, 10(3), 371-380.

1. How has Digital Media influenced (or changed) the field of education?

Before the 21st-century education was confined to the walls of the classroom. If anyone wanted to learn about a subject he must have to join a school or university to learn. At that time there was a system in which teachers delivered knowledge to students by teaching on blackboards in classrooms. Even in prehistoric times, ancient Greek teachers like Plato and Socrates delivered their knowledge to students in a classroom kind of environment.

The delivery of education has changed in the 21^st century with the advent of technology. Nowadays education practices have changed by bringing technology and digital media into our education system. In the coming years, our very concept of a traditional learning environment for education will change. Many countries are developing methods to introduce digital media into education systems and some of them have already introduced new teaching and learning methods in their education system to prepare children for the digital age of learning. Victoria Rideout describes that 80% of children in America spend time on digital media learning rather than the traditional methods of learning (Rideout, 2014). Almost all the countries in the world are now shifting to digital learning methods. In Pakistan, the present government is providing laptops to university students in undergraduate and graduate programs (Jamil, A., Rafique, F., & Rizvi, 2014).

The introduction of digital media in education has made several positive effects on the delivery of education. It is helping teachers and students in the collection and management of information and provides options for extending connectivity between them. Digital media is playing an important role in changing the school environment. With the help of computers, our children are learning about the latest advancements in science and their learning has increased because of loads of learning materials available on the internet. There are also a number of software and online portals that help students organize and manage their academic data and even can see their results. They can also find learning materials and books from all over the world in a matter of seconds. It has been observed that the use of digital media in the classroom has increased the learning abilities of students. It is also helping teachers in delivering education and communication between teachers and students. Nowadays, teachers can connect to the whole class and deliver lectures remotely to students after school time.

Implementation of digital media in classrooms increases the interest of students in their subjects. In a study, it was proved that digital media increases the positive attitude of students toward the classroom environment. Students in traditional classroom environments learn more if they aren’t bored and tired. Digital media because of its attractiveness helps in maintaining the interest of students and releases frustration in them. Digital media when used to strengthen connectivity between teachers and students and provide different kinds of activities for learning motivates the students to use it for better learning and results. Various types of research indicate that students who use digital media and the internet more are more motivated towards studies and perform well when they enter a practical field where the use of digital media and advanced technologies is a must.

Educational institutions should take interest in introducing more digital media in their education system to achieve better learning and positive attitudes toward students in the classroom environment.

References

Rideout, V. (2014). Learning at home: Families’ educational media use in America. Joan Ganz Cooney Center.

Jamil, A., Rafique, F., & Rizvi, S. (2014). Evaluating the Impact of IT on University Students of Bahawalpur with Special Reference to Free laptop Distribution by Govt. of Punjab. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(6), 233.

1. Discuss how Digital Media has transformed how organizations advertise and market their products and services.

Before the advent of advanced marketing and promotion methods, the method of verbal promotion was used. People who owned businesses selected managers from all over the country and assigned them tasks to promote their products. These managers traveled all over the country and other countries in the form of caravans to promote the products to the people they meet on their journey. This form of promotion was slow and limited to a certain area as the market engagement factor and target market approach were not so effective.

Digital media has provided a new medium for brand promotion and advertisement. It is helping business owners in a wide area of industries including textile, food, and foreign trade companies. Online advertisement via digital media made it easy to target consumers and markets by ensuring customer values, interaction with the market, relationship building, and product feedback evaluation. Digital media marketing is providing a sophisticated marketing strategy by ensuring a better buyer-seller relationship. These kinds of marketing methods include social media marketing, mobile, and television-based marketing.

Mobile phone marketing is the best example of digital media marketing. Nowadays, sellers contact their target market by mobile phone text messages and present to them their products with discount offers and attractive packages. People are getting directed to these markets because of their active promotion methods and these facilities are benefiting the sellers in increasing their business.

Social media marketing also is making positive effects on promotion strategies of products. Products are advertised on social media by careful target market evaluation. These products are advertised by first finding the parts of social media that have maximum traffic visits by the target market and then by promoting these products in these specific areas. The social media paid ad and promotion facility is also providing businesses to market their products on a larger platform and promote their products to the consumers without a lot of effort. There is a lot of evidence available online on how social media branding increased equity creation and customer attraction to products. A survey made on 845 brands that belonged to Chinese, Italian, French and Indian products, discovered the positive effects of social media branding on these products and how they increased brand loyalty, and preference among the consumers (Godey et al, 2016). In America. Similarly, a study conducted specifically on the European market and countries of Slovakia, Albania, and Bulgaria, included social media marketing as one of the most effective means of marketing in the coming decade. (Jayaram et al, 2015).

Marketing techniques have improved with the adaptation of new technologies. Companies nowadays are learning to develop new marketing strategies in order to keep up with the competition. Internet marketing is proving to be the most effective as compared to mobile phone or television marketing. In America with the advent of Web 2.0, the branding strategy of new technologies, clothing brands, and the food industry is improving and the method of customer engagement via social media and other websites is giving positive results to the business owners (Berthon et al, 2012).

In short, the effects of digital media marketing on small and medium-sized businesses are helping these businesses to flourish and promote their products by providing them a platform to engage the target market of their choice.

References

Godey, B., Manthiou, A., Pederzoli, D., Rokka, J., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., & Singh, R. (2016). Social media marketing efforts of luxury brands: Influence on brand equity and consumer behavior. Journal of business research, 69(12), 5833-5841.

Jayaram, D., Manrai, A. K., & Manrai, L. A. (2015). Uso eficaz de la tecnología de marketing en Europa del Este: analíticas de web, medios sociales, analítica de clientes, campañas digitales y aplicaciones móviles. Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science, 20(39), 118-132.

Berthon, P. R., Pitt, L. F., Plangger, K., & Shapiro, D. (2012). Marketing meets Web 2.0, social media, and creative consumers: Implications for international marketing strategy. Business horizons, 55(3), 261-271.