Monday, September 6, 2010
Questioning the Media #2
Some critics argue that citizens no longer participate in traditional neighborhood activities (i.e., block parties, visiting with neighbors) and that cable has played a role in fragmenting society, keeping us in our homes. Do you agree or disagree? What has cable done well, and in what ways has it adversely affected society? (*may want to refer to recent news stories pertaining to two popular cable television shows)
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I would agree with this. Unless it was the Fourth of July, or we we’re invited for a Bar-b-que, I can’t remember the last time my family has hung out with the neighbors, willingly. It just not something you see very often at all anymore. After work I think the last thing people are thinking about is cleaning up their house and having the neighbors over for dinner or a game night. People also seem too busy now-a-days to attend block parties. Who even plans block parties anymore? How would you even get one started? It’s just something since I’ve been alive that has not been a part of my norm. I would agree that cable does have some sway in the argument as well. For instance just last week on cable Monday night football pulled in a little over 15 million views, and Jersey Shore with nearly 6 million viewers, according to TVbythenumbers.com . For a lot of Americans I’m sure it’s easier and less hassle to laugh at the problems and situations happening on TV than to deal with their own. Cable has taken everyday life and made it easy and manageable. There’s nothing complicated about TV. Problems are solved in 30 minutes or less and then you can turn off the TV with no harm done. It’s not messy or intricate at all and I think a lot of people relish in that simplicity. But on the other hand it has changed the way society views each other. To be honest I don’t even know all my neighbors and I’ve lived in the same house my entire life. I couldn’t even tell you their names! The sense of community that used to be so integral to American life is pretty much nonexistent in many places of the country. Overall, as long as cable is on the television I think society will continue to be fragmented between neighbors, I don’t see the wheels turning back anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteSource: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/09/28/cable-top-25-monday-night-football-jersey-shore-icarly-spongebob-pawn-stars-top-week%e2%80%99s-cable-viewing/65516
I have to disagree with the idea that cable TV is responsible for the fragmenting of society.I agree that society is more fragmented today than before but I feel that the reason for this can be attributed to the internet and not cable TV. I feel that if anything certain popular television shows are so big that they have brought groups of people together that normally would have nothing in common. In my neighborhood we have a huge block party for Halloween and for the Fourth of July. This may not be the norm in most communities and could be easier in my neighborhood because it is in the city of Milwaukee, where the houses are fairly close together. I don't have much of a choice whether I am going to interact with my neighbors because of the close quarters. The reason I think that people are less likely to interact in person with one another is linked to the internet more so than cable. I have friends and even neighbors that will come over once a week to watch certain shows. For example I have about ten people every week that come over to watch Law and Order SVU on Wednesday nights. I feel cable has done a great job in allowing uncensored material be viewed on TV. For example the show Entourage on HBO is uncensored and it provides a much more enjoyable and realistic perspective of how people actually talk to each other. The censorship issue can be a bad thing as well but only if not monitored correctly by parents. Overall, I feel that cable provides more options and opportunities for people to relate to one another, and because of this I feel that it should not be the medium blamed for our fragmented society.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about cable being the determining factoring in people dividing and interacting less. I think that the times have changed a lot over the early/mid 1900s and the end and turn of the century and that cable is one of many factors. For example, one could argue that things like video games, which emerged during the same area as cable (late 70s/ early 80s) were the beginning of people, particularly at a young age, staying in more and disconnecting from others. This type of information can even be supported if one were to look at the growth of childhood obesity and the rise of disease relating to poor health habits, like diabetes and heart disease.
ReplyDeleteAlso, society as a whole changed over that time, with fallout of the events that happened in the 60s. The world was becoming a scary place, where you no longer trusted your neighbors the way you once did. If the president could lie about “Watergate”, anyone could lie to you. So hanging on your porch and interacting with anyone was now something you needed to watch out for, where as before it was the norm.
Cable might have caused negative things, like allowing raunchier scenes and content to be given to viewers, but it also allowed an intense amount of information to be put out into the world (for example CNN an the History Channel or even MTV) just like the internet in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Speaking from personal experience I don' think that cable has taken people away from each other. I remember when I was younger, even though we had cable tv, I would go to my neighbors and play basketball, baseball, soccer or some sort of game we invented. I would watch t.v. after we couldn't see because it was to dark out.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for my parents they would usually keep to themselves during the week but it's because they both worked over 60 hours a week. But every weekend we would have a grill out and go boating. I can't remember a nice weekend spent not on the lake. As for winter all of the neighborhood kids would get together and we woul play hockey in my back yard on the lake.
Between soccer, boating and other school sports when I was younger I was to busy for cable tv and my parents would only watch on weeknights after 7.
Cable has done a great job of being able to bring us the news 24/7. I like that we can always know what's going on in the world if we would like to keep up with that. Another thing that is a positive, especially for me, is that you can watch all your sporting events you like without paying the price of a ticket. Not to mention it's great when you can't sleep.
A negative thing that it has done is shown how dumb our society can be. Shows like Jersey Shore, Survivor, Real World, Big Brother, and Amazing Race have caused us to turn our back on each other in order to look better. You plot and plan to make others look dumb for your own benefit.
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ReplyDeleteI agree but I also disagree. I believe cable does play a role in fragmenting society, keeping us in our homes but I don’t feel it’s the only cause that has changed society today. Society has changed drastically in my opinion since I was a child. I used to play outside everyday and my family, friends, and neighbors would always come together for block parties. However, as the years passed, technology has advanced, still is, and my family, friends, and neighbors don’t get together anymore. Majority of the time people feel they have better things to do. Where my parents live now, I only know one of my neighbors and I’ve lived there for 6 years. I feel the advancement of internet, video games, and cable are the major factors of why things like this have come to a stop.
ReplyDeleteCable has done well by knowing what viewers want to watch on TV. Hence inventing DVR, which has been a huge success for companies because it encourages people to watch more TV without the annoyance of commercials. In an article I read, Apple Inc. has a new approach to their customers. They are going to be offering people the capability to rent their favorite TV shows for only 99 cents for 48 hours. They said this will increase the appeal of their devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) making more people wanting to buy their products. I think this could be a great idea because now-a-days these devices are becoming a hit. TV, Internet, Music, etc. all in one, what more could anyone ask for? I think it has adversely affected society due to the fact people are not as social able as they once were. Communication used to be mainly face to face and now it’s on a whole different level. For example, talking on the phone used to be popular but people text message instead. All and all, people have the right to choose what they want to do and what they don’t. So can we really blame anyone but ourselves?
ARTICLE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-24/apple-said-to-be-in-talks-with-fox-for-new-99-cent-tv-show-rental-service.html
Response:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading everyone’s responses I can see how the argument could be taken both ways. Cable has done a lot to detract from society but it has also enhanced it in even more ways than we can imagine for the better. Cable possesses the capability to bring people together from all walks of life to relate and connect on various levels. I didn’t think of it that way when answering the question, choosing only to see how cable can distract people from interacting but in reality cable isn’t entirely the only reason why society has changed. To place the blame solely on cable would be a mistake. A lot more factors would be needed to be included in that equation to get a fair answer. Like with any new invention that changes the way humans interact there are pros and cons. In the case of cable I think that it’s a situation where the pros and cons balance each other out and in the long run, cable has been an invention worth embracing.
Maybe it's because of the small town that I grew up in but it seemed like everyone knew each other in the town. We had a certain small town commraderie. Not to mention all of my friends lived close and our parents all got along. So it seemed like we were always doing something together with the neighbors. Everyone enjoyed going out on the boat and tubing and skiing and the adults would go on the "cocktail cruise" while we would go back and play sheepshead in my basement. I can see how living in a bigger city must have been a different story.
ReplyDeleteI can see where everyone is coming from with their responses to the blog question. There isn’t a right or wrong answer here and after reading the classes response, the answers can be endless. After reading Scott’s response it made me think a little more about my response and realized I really didn’t watch as much TV as I thought. There was no time because I was so active and on the weekends I was traveling for sports. There was an occasional show I would have taped on VHS but other than that cable had no affect what so ever Yes, I watched TV but only when I had time and thinking back more, I really didn’t have a lot of time until I came to college. I didn’t have so much time because school was from morning till the afternoon. I don’t have gaps between my classes like I do now, leaving me more relaxation time. It’s just made me think to myself that cable isn’t at all a cause of why people don’t do things. I think it’s the people who choose not to do things. Technology and everything plays into it but it’s ultimately our decision.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Scott's response I found many things to agree with him about. When I was a kid I feel that I had a similar experience with Television. My mom didn't have cable but my dad did. When I was at my dads house I would watch whatever was on Nickelodeon but generally did not watch that much TV due to constantly being active outside. I played 4 sports in high school and three in grade school. In grade school I would watch TV eating cereal before school and then maybe power rangers or full house at night if I wasn't playing with the neighbors. I can see how some people may see technology as being a cause for a majority of people staying in their homes more often than not but generally I feel that it is different from house to house. Kids today may have more media outlets than I did growing up but generally I feel that kids still enjoy the same things like being outside more than cable TV.
ReplyDelete