Mass communication as a means of impact

At the end of the 20th century, the notion of mass communication became widespread. It clearly shows the relationship between technical capabilities, quality and methods of information transfer. However, this social phenomenon has very long roots.

Even in ancient Greece, people went out to the agora and performed various messages. The crowd that formed around the speakers became the defining element creating the effect of "mass character". Many years have passed since the printing press was invented , and newspapers arose. Circulation is what makes print production a means of mass communication at the expense of accessibility to a large number of masses. Then they invented radio, television and the Internet. As we see, mass communication depends on the technical equipment with which information is disseminated. So, at the present time our civilization has a lot of means that every day every day deliver news and other messages intended for a large audience.

Mass communication is the systematic dissemination of information to large social groups that have different parameters. The transmission of information has a primary purpose, which determines its nature of impact. It can be aimed at ideological adjustment, can shape the political preferences of large groups, influence the opinions and assessments of people in other areas of both public and private life. Therefore, it is not worth underestimating this phenomenon, it plays a really important role in our society.

Types of mass communication

There are several classifications of this type of communication. Initially, they are divided according to the transfer principle: electronic and printed. For ordinary citizens, public information comes through television, radio, mobile communications (large-scale mailing) and the Internet. Another once popular way of conveying public information, and now giving way to the electronic one is printed. More and more publications translate the fruits of their activities into the Internet, and they have less and less chances to be profitable in paper format. They either fully open access to information and exist at the expense of advertising, or some pages offer to pay and then start reading. Each type of mass communication contains some elements that also refer to this system (for example, advertising: it is not socially significant information, but it is widely distributed).

Mass communication: a characteristic

To better understand this phenomenon, we will give its characteristic features:

1. First, mass communication shapes public opinion. For this, knowledge about scientific achievements in psychology and sociology is used.
2. Then the behavior of the communicants is highlighted: they imitate. For example, television shows. In them we see the penetration of people into the private life; Often they are representatives of the middle class, so that the majority of viewers can correlate themselves with them. This includes all sorts of stories about how someone, having a beautiful voice and living in the countryside, has become a recognized talent. Otherwise, the situation is with the stars: the opening of the curtain of their private life has long been of interest to the masses, and they, seeing this, are eager to live as wildly as most of the Bohemians. But these are not the guidelines that mass communications should put on, because it corrupts society: everyone wants to relax, go for a walk, have fun, and there's nobody to work for. Here the policy of the times of the USSR was more advantageous, when in the example there were heroes of labor.
3. Based on the previous paragraph, we see that the formation of values. It is with the help of changing values that a correction of public consciousness takes place. In the same paragraph, stereotypes and the notion of mass culture arise .

Thus, MC is an important element of public life, which to some extent forms the surrounding reality through the influence on human mentality.