Media Technologies can be said to have Significant Impacts on Society, Culture and Politics

Media and its associated technologies now form a core part of society, changing the way in which we not only engage in a political sense but have also caused the social and cultural values that we have once held to evolve alongside this technology. This has been due to the integration of media networks into our daily lives as well as the evolution of media technology into new digital environments.  Media networks now form a core part of our social functions, consequently defining the values and beliefs that we hold as a society. Power is now spread out more evenly through such networks, affecting the way in which cultural and political discussions are held, as now such discussions are more accessible. As media becomes more widely used and integrated, media technologies, as a medium of communication, will increasingly affect the way in which we interpret information. As active audiences, this has a significant impact on our socio-cultural processes which are reliant on these new networks.

A society’s structure can be interpreted as a series of inter-connected and overlapping individual relationships (Martin, 2015). Using this model of understanding we can identify the significance of media technologies in society’s structures, more specifically on how they have changed such structures. As media technology continues to evolve, Manuel Castell (2012, pp. 6) suggests that so too will its effect on social structures, extending its reach “to all domains of social life in a network that is at the same time global and local, generic and customised in an ever-changing pattern”. If we interpret Castells argument regarding networks in the perspective of social structures, we are able to summarise it to that of arguing networks were created out of necessity. As technology began to be integrated into everyday life, there needed to be a new medium of social and cultural exchange which networks came to fill.

This interpretation of society networks as now a reflection of social structures, is supported by the effects on political processes that have occurred (Thompson, 2011). Thompson suggests that networks aren’t just merely mediums of exchange but are ingrained and interconnected into our society functions, so much so that a single individual or group can influence and impact values and beliefs which are so important to political processes.

Thus, to fully grasp and understand the true impact that media technologies have on society at large, we must look at the way messages and meaning are derived through this form of what Castells (2012, pp. 6) labels “socialised communication”. In a socio-political perspective communication in this manner can greatly affect political discussions and outcomes. After analysing political structures as merely an extension to current social structures, it is therefore no consequence that media technologies not only allow everyday people to reach out to a wider community but that this greater reach has a flow on effect on political processes and systems which can be started or stalled by a social movement within this network (Castells 2012).

However, there must be an understanding that media technologies aren’t just static products but are mediums that provide affordances which have occurred through the creation of digital and communicative environments (Shaw, 2017). Particularly regarding new forms of media, Shaw argues that it’s important to realise that media technologies are not an external factor but that such technology exists as an internal and core part of social structures. Through these internal environments we are able to derive meaning by using Stuart Halls encoding and decoding theory model. What is suggested by Shaw in conjunction with this model is that in order to understand new media, the next evolution of media technology, we need to understand the meanings behind the messages that are communicated on such mediums. As such, we need to understand that media is not only regarding meaning itself within the context of a network but also as mediums that provide affordances and are also restricted by their capabilities. The importance of this in understanding media’s impact is through the factors of the environment, more specifically how the network influences social and political mobilisation and its perceived value of importance in our everyday lives.

The impact of media technologies can be seen by their pervasiveness in society, more so in the lives of young people (Weinstein, 2016). Weinstein supports Shaw’s arguments of understanding media technology in the context of communicative exchange environments, using youth as a framework to suggest that we now actively seek online networks for personal satisfaction. How this relates to Shaw’s understanding of the impact of media technology meaning is in youth’s reliance, not mere just desire for such networks.  If we take into account Hall’s encoding and decoding theory model, what can be analysed from Shaw’s arguments is that if we are able to understand the significance of media technology in our socio-cultural structures we are better able to understand the experience catalysed by the encoding and decoding of messages. What we can conclude from this is that the impacts of media technologies on our socio-cultural environments are reliant on how messages are received, or decoded, through that specific medium as well as active audience’s own encoding of messages through such a medium, which is reflective of both new media and culturally ingrained media (Shaw, 2017).

Media technology has affected the way in which we behave, influencing the structures and processes that were once in place. Its impact is increasingly significant, over time becoming more and more intertwined into our routines and are now a core part of society communication and interaction. In turn, as media technology has evolved so too has our social structures and ways of interaction and communication, more often than not causing media technology to integrate further into our everyday lives. As it becomes an increasingly important part of not only the way in which we decode information but how we too encode messages as active audiences in a network environment, understanding its significance can help us better realise the influence that such media technologies have on our society, culture and politics.

Reference List

Martin J, 2015, International Encyclopaedia of the Social and Behavioural Sciences, 2^nd ed. Elsevier, University of Chicago, IL

Castells M, 2012, ‘Networking Minds, Creating Meaning, Contesting Power’ in Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age, Polity Press, Cambridge

Thompson R, 2011, ‘Radicalization and the Use of Social Media’, Journal of Strategic Security 4, no. 4 pp. 167-190, DOI: 10.5038/1944-0472.4.4.8

Shaw A, 2017, ‘Encoding and decoding affordances: Stuart Hall and interactive media technologies’, Media Culture and Society, Vol 39, no. 4, pp 592-602, DOI: 10.1177/0163443717692741

Weinstein E, 2014, ‘Digital stress: Adolescents’ personal accounts’, New Media and Society, Vol 18, no. 3, pp 391-409, DOI: DOI: 10.1177/1461444814543989

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