How Social Media Causes Stereotyping

Different media sources have projected multiple issues surrounding our lives in various ways. There is no doubt that today, the opinion and the views of the public, especially preadolescents, can easily be swayed or controlled by manipulating the content provided to them through multiple media outlets. The opinions of people are shaped by their views on certain issues. Aside from exposing children to things that are meant for the older audiences, the media also serves to instill certain images of things and ideas into their heads, aka propaganda. For example, every television show and movie tends to stereotype different groups of people, like some movies showing how typical teenagers act in schools or how blondes are ditzy and vain.

These stereotypes quickly become ingrained in children’s minds and they tend to believe these stereotypes in real life.Since there is a variety of media in the world and because of the fact that different people prefer different media as their information sources, the way the issue of credibility and security is very important in making decision. Today, society is consistently being bombarded with information coming from television, movies, radio, newspapers, magazine, and most of all, the internet. This means that there is so much information coming to us these days that it is impossible to filter out the relevant information and to also differentiate what is right and what is wrong. Younger people are the most affected by television and movies since it is visual media and since it is readily available and common, almost everyone is exposed.

The content that people watch or see works to shape determine the attitude that the public holds for or against various issues. Television and movies can work to provide us with the information that ends up determining our attitudes towards different things. For example, if programs on the television keep showing children that wearing makeup and having brand name clothes, it is very likely that they will start accepting and believing that these trends are something that everyone should do. Similarly, television and movies are the most broadcasted and received sources of stereotypes and due to the fact that they are everywhere, sooner or later, the stereotypes become ingrained in the audience’s mind and create untrue images. Therefore, these cause a incredibly large audience to form certain ideas, attitudes, and stereotypes towards the people and events around them by presenting what the controllers of media want us to believe even though it is usually grossly exaggerated.

One of the things that all social media causes us to do is to make stereotypes for people around us who come from different social and cultural backgrounds, causing a rise in discrimination. These sources have created a sense of what we should be like and how we should behave. For example, the way we feel about being a male or female; which class, ethnicity, race, nationality, sexuality we belong to is all shaped by what we see and hear throughout media. Perhaps, the most dangerous misconception that one can absorb from media is that of the other cultures, and therefore making us form false assumptions about people who are from a different culture.