BLOG POST: WEEK 3

During this week in my Audience Studies course, some important concepts have emerged that are crucial within the research aspect of Audience Studies. These key concepts have helped me gain a better understanding of myself as an audience member, as well as the various audience experiences I have had in the past and present.

Essentially, Chapter 2 of the Sullivan textbook introduces the idea that as audience members, we can become consumed in our media. We can be so involved (mentally, emotionally, physically) in the media that we become so captivated by the content. This can happen both consciously and subconsciously. Thus, because we can subconsciously pick up on the behaviours in which we engage, we can subconsciously and consciously act upon those actions and habits. 

As an audience member during such tough times, I do believe that the media in which we engage affects how we feel, think, and act. The most prominent example of this is the way that news affects us. When COVID first started, media sources were unsure of everything that was happening. The government took a while to put out verified facts regarding COVID, so the news stations had a limited amount of content that they could put out. I believe that this had a mental and physical effect on citizens worldwide. People went into mass panic and started unnecessarily mass purchasing and hoarding items such as toilet paper, beans, rice, potatoes, hand sanitizer, hand soap, Lysol wipes, one-use gloves, masks, etc. Many people started buying stockpiles of the items listed above to re-sell them at a higher price. The government had to step in and started giving people fines for up-selling in a time of need. 

After seeing how everyone reacted, it became clear to me that the media has a prominent effect on the way that people think, act, and feel. Although I did not participate in the mass panic of hoarding goods, I have to admit that I was confused and quite scared, seeing as within the beginning stages of COVID-19 there were not many answers being given via news stations and media sources.

As we all know, communication is an extremely important thing. Not only is it a crucial element of human survival, but it also plays an important role in the relationships we create and maintain. This can be seen when it comes to media sources as audience members. 

Communication is a crucial aspect of our lives within the 20th century. Charles Horton Cooley defines communication as: “The mechanism through which human relations exist and develop--all the symbols of the mind, together with the means of conveying them through space and preserving them in time. It includes the expression of the face, attitude, and gesture, the tones of the voice, words, writing, printing, railways, telegraphs, telephones, and whatever else may be the latest achievement in the conquest of space and time” (J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). 

Cooley also noted that although there are positive impacts of communication, “newspapers and other media forms would give the public only a superficial understanding of (and concern with) public issues and other people” (J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). He was very keen on mentioning that because “we learn so much about so many different things, we develop only the most rudimentary understanding of those things (because our time and attention are necessarily limited) (J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). I must say that I completely agree with Cooley, and have even experienced these points for myself as an audience member. 

I do believe that when learning about local issues, world issues, and social issues that I become overwhelmed with information and do not get a true understanding of each issue. In this sense, I am not gaining anything in particular as an audience member. This superficial knowledge is often brisk and one-sided. This makes it very clear to me that as an audience member, I am only ever shown one side of any story. The media only shows us what they want to show us, and that is for a reason. The media has an agenda of their own and it is now very clear to me that it is my responsibility to research such topics and gain a true understanding of such issues. 

I believe that Cooley’s definition of communication helped open my eyes to the meaning of the media, as well as how the media has personally affected me as an audience member. Within the future, I now know that it is crucial to actively engage in topics with great caution, as audience members are shown specific facts and information that aligns with the media’s agenda.

Between Cooley’s thoughts on media and communication, and my own experiences as an audience member, I can now say that I fully understand Hugo Munsterberg's concern for film audiences, with his insight into mass suggestibility within films. He was “worried about the effect of the movies and popular amusements in general on other sociological changes such as childhood delinquency, a rise in teenage pregnancy rates, and the health and safety of the movie theatres themselves (Edwards, 1915; Phelan, 1919, in J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). While examining the perceptual processes found among audiences while viewing images on screens, Munsterberg found that audiences “must first place themselves within the conceptual world of the visual images on the screen” (J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). Ultimately, the audience members “must accept, at least temporarily, the reality of the images they encounter in order to make some kind of sense of the events unfolding on the film screen” (J. Sullivan, Ch. 2, 2020). According to Munsterberg, “the sight of crime and vice may force itself on the moral balance, which would have been kept under the habitual stimuli of the narrow routine of life, may be lost under the pressure of the realistic suggestion" (1916, p. 95; J. Sullivan). 

As an audience member in the 20th century, this hit home for me. I truly understand the point that Munsterberg is trying to make because I experience it. A specific example that I have experienced more recently is about a television show called Euphoria. This show is aimed towards teenagers and young adults, and constantly depicts scenes that glamourise drug use. I have never been one to try drugs, but from watching the show alone, I found myself questioning what it is like, and what drug addicts go through daily. As Munsterberg suggested, I found myself becoming immersed in their world, while temporarily accepting their lifestyle as normal. I heard another audience member who watches the show admit that they now wanted to try the drugs depicted within the show. This very clearly ties into the four processes of audience involvement, especially the ‘transportation’ process in which audience members participate in. I believe that this can get extremely dangerous for people with impressionable or addictive personalities, as this process is about being transported into the media we are consuming. 

While reading the core concepts and theories within this week's readings, it became clear to me that the media and its relation to mass suggestibility is real and scary. As an audience member, mass suggestibility has never been more prominent within my life. I truly believe that this can be a dangerous thing for young and impressionable people. After learning about various concepts and processes of audience involvement, I am now more aware of the audience experiences mentioned above, especially in terms of how they relate to key theories within the class, as well as the four processes of audience involvement.