THE Mass Media: Let’s Talk About Audiences

So you want to appeal to a large audience but you aren’t sure what the secret may be. The answer is not only understanding the mass media, but also using it to create a monetizing business frame. It is particularly useful for those in the entertainment industry. There is a lot of literature out there that suggests little unification regarding the definition of mass media or academic scholarship of mass media studies. A scholar by the name of Thompson (1995) makes some excellent points though; recognizing technological means of production has a highly important facet of defining mass media. There is something to be realized, as even old media was new media at one point. A distinct pattern can be drawn upon by Haven et al. (2009), states technological “digitization and globalization have been transforming our relationships with media” (p. 253). I gather that this technological advancement of information disseminated through social media has created many new elements that could redefine mass media.

Social media can transmit information easily to many different people bending time and space. Many people may think that social media is trivial, but in reality it is a key tool in creating a call to action for monetizing your product. Potter (2009) makes a good point that a necessary element in this definition of mass media is to have institutions “distribute their message with the purpose of creating and maintaining audience members” (p. 32). Although, Potter (2009) then goes on to talk about this mass media definition and states that the sender must be an organization. This type of exposure has to be ritualistic in nature as only an organization can condition audiences in this manner. This is a great point to understand when you are trying to construct your own entrepreneurial organization. Maybe you are just one person, but as someone who has been striving to build their own empire, these writings are vital. You must be able to digest the many facets of what a mass media is defined as, then applying it to captivating your own audience.

My question is what happens to this key definitional element when the individual is the organization? How has social media aided to giving more individual attempts of dissemination to large audiences? How has social media changed the way the audience views “the media”? I find it holistically ritual in the ways that we use social media, creating a perfect mass production of content for those who religiously use the apps. Creating your own organization is rather easy if you have the knowledge and strategy of execution. Brand image is majorly important as most people eat up content rather quickly. Many people don’t have the time or don’t want to make the time to research you or your “organization”. So, they want to understand your brand in the most immediate sense. Pushing the limits of digitization and technological advancement is a key aspect to captivating your audience through mass media outlets. Create content you love, but above all have fun and believe in yourself! Obviously, we could flush out this subject in much a longer manner, but if anyone does want to delve more into this topic – you know where you can find us!

 

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-URBANO