Blog #4
I'm going to look at the past, present, and future of TV through the theory of technological determinism. This may seem like a difficult connection to see, but both the programs and the actual television itself shaped a lot of our society today. It impacted the health of people, the goals of individual's, and the way societies of other cultures are viewed by people's unfamiliar with that particular culture.
Television itself has impacted the health of our society, both positively and negatively. Since the conception of TV in America it has done thing consistently from year to year, grown in users. This is negative, because that number has directly correlated with obesity in America, and many people attribute the large number of people sitting on their couches watching TV frequently takes time away from people spending their time exercising or doing other forms of physical activity. Another negative aspect is the social belief that it takes time away from emotionally being with one's family. Nightly family dinners at the table where the family learns about each other's days and the happenings of each other's lives have been replaced by meals in different rooms in front of different TV sets watching each individuals favorite programs. The argument made to that claim as far as the social aspect goes is that popular shows are enjoyed together by friends and families, as they either watch the programs together, or talk about them after they've aired. Some relationships even exist solely because of individual's common interest in a certain show. TV's are also becoming more prevalent in gyms, giving people entertainment while their working out, making them more prone to go to the gym because of the nature of the "constant entertainment" society we live in. TV also gives us easy access through different news stations of what's going on in the rest of the world. TV has also long been a reflection of the society in which we live. TV really became popular with shows like "Leave it to Beaver," and "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which showed home life in America much like it was, the father worked, the mother was a homemaker, the kids were good, everyone prayed before meals and went to church every Sunday, which was a pretty accurate representation of what home life was like back then. Now we see shows like "Catfish," "Dating Naked," and "The Bachelor," these shows reflect a lot of how are society has changed since back then, as a lot of these shows depict the dangers of modern technology. and how the relationships in our current society have changed since the initial popularization of TV. In the future, TV will continue to depict our society, and everyone will watch TV on the go, as the focus of our society continues to trend towards mobility and convenience. With Netflix recently starting to venture into weekly news programs and various talk shows, streaming giants should eventually take over, and their will likely no longer be a need for regular TV channels in the not-so-distant future.
Television itself has impacted the health of our society, both positively and negatively. Since the conception of TV in America it has done thing consistently from year to year, grown in users. This is negative, because that number has directly correlated with obesity in America, and many people attribute the large number of people sitting on their couches watching TV frequently takes time away from people spending their time exercising or doing other forms of physical activity. Another negative aspect is the social belief that it takes time away from emotionally being with one's family. Nightly family dinners at the table where the family learns about each other's days and the happenings of each other's lives have been replaced by meals in different rooms in front of different TV sets watching each individuals favorite programs. The argument made to that claim as far as the social aspect goes is that popular shows are enjoyed together by friends and families, as they either watch the programs together, or talk about them after they've aired. Some relationships even exist solely because of individual's common interest in a certain show. TV's are also becoming more prevalent in gyms, giving people entertainment while their working out, making them more prone to go to the gym because of the nature of the "constant entertainment" society we live in. TV also gives us easy access through different news stations of what's going on in the rest of the world. TV has also long been a reflection of the society in which we live. TV really became popular with shows like "Leave it to Beaver," and "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which showed home life in America much like it was, the father worked, the mother was a homemaker, the kids were good, everyone prayed before meals and went to church every Sunday, which was a pretty accurate representation of what home life was like back then. Now we see shows like "Catfish," "Dating Naked," and "The Bachelor," these shows reflect a lot of how are society has changed since back then, as a lot of these shows depict the dangers of modern technology. and how the relationships in our current society have changed since the initial popularization of TV. In the future, TV will continue to depict our society, and everyone will watch TV on the go, as the focus of our society continues to trend towards mobility and convenience. With Netflix recently starting to venture into weekly news programs and various talk shows, streaming giants should eventually take over, and their will likely no longer be a need for regular TV channels in the not-so-distant future.
Comments
Post a Comment