Mass Media and Social
Networks
NASHAWN BELK, HADLEY YOUNG, GRACE
SHEALY, KALIA BREWER
Definitions
 Mass Media: A means of public communication
reaching a large audience.
 Social Networks: An online community of people
with a common interest who use a Web site or other
technologies to communicate with each other and
share information. Ex: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Facts about Facebook
 1 In every 13 people on Earth is on Facebook.
 In 20 minuets, 1,851,000 status updates are sent.
 People spend over 700 billion minuets per minuet on
Facebook.
 48% of young Americans say they find out about the
news through Facebook.
 48% of 18 to 34 years olds check Facebook right
when they wake up.
 There are more than 70 translations available.
Twitter
 More than 350 billion tweets has gone out world
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wide since March 2006.
As of June there are 232 million active users
Twitter is blocked in China and yet still has some 35
million users in the country
President Barack Obama has the 4th most popular
twitter account
Around 3/4th of twitter users access it on a mobile
device.
The payroll exceeds 2300 people.
Instagram
 There are 150 million active Instagram users
 There have been 16 billion photos shared as of
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october 22 2013
Instagram launch date is on october 2010
The average user on instagram spends about 251
minutes a month on the site
Facebook paid 715 million dollars for Instagram, it
only had 13 employees at the time
There 8500 likes on instagram per second
Institutionalization of Mass Media
 Mass Media: are instruments of communication that
reach large audiences with no personal contact
between those sending the information and those
receiving it.
 Mass media started with the invention of writing and
paper and then was transformed when the printing
press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg. The first
book printed was the Gutenberg Bible.
 The digital computer completely transformed how
peopled accessed and stored information.
Mass Media in the United States
 Information society: what the US is, it’s a community
in which the exchange of information is the main
social and economic activity.
 4 groups of mass media: print, audio, visual, and
online.
 Print media: Includes newspapers, magazines, and
books.
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Approximately 56 million newspapers are printed in a day and
57% of adults read the newspaper everyday.
Print media has a substantial audience but the number has
declined in recent years. And those who did read the
newspaper have spent less time reading.
Mass Media in the United States
 Audio media: The radio and sound recordings are
the two major categories of audio media.
 Sound recordings is one of the largest industries in
the US. This includes CD’s, cassette tapes, vinyl
records, and music videos.
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Inventions like MP3’s and iPods have grown in popularity over
the years. 99% of homes in the United States have some format
of a radio.
Commercials are broadcasted over the radio to their
audiences.
Mass Media in the United States
 Visual Media: Movies, television, videocassettes
and DVD’s make up visual media.
 Television reaches the largest audience in the US.
98% of Americans have a TV in their house.
 Major broadcasting networks and cable channels
dominate TV’s in the US.
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Between 400 and 500 movies are released a year and cover
several genres (action, comedy, horror, romance, science
fiction, and westerns), in 2000 the box office made more than
$7 billion.
Mass Media in the United States
 Online media: The internet has become
increasingly popular, offering service including
email, social networking, and online shopping.
 Media convergence: the integration of different
media technologies. An example of this is how print
media and online media have merged. Newspapers
and magazines are now available online, and many
people have subscribed to these instead of the print
version.
Functionalist Perspective
 Believe that mass media perform functions that
support the stability and smooth operation of society
 These functions include keeping track of what is
happening in the world, interpreting information,
transmitting cultural values, and entertaining people
 Believe that to be a productive member of society,
people need to know what is going on around them
Conflict Perspective
 Believe that the purpose of social institutions is to
maintain the present social order
 Some believe that media can decide what
information is provided and how it is presented
 Others believe that mass media in the United States
encourage the acceptance of the power structure by
encouraging a culture of consumerism- if people are
busy increasing their collection of material
possessions, they have no time to think about
society’s inequalities
Interactionist Perspective
 Do not study mass media nearly as much because
they focus on individuals
 Study the media on a micro level to see how it
shaped every day behavior
 Might study the effect of watching a violent movie on
a couple’s frequency of physical violence towards
eachother
Works Cited
 http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-
11-03/news/43628472_1_jack-dorsey-twitteraccounts-twitter-users
 http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/04/28/50fascinating-facebook-facts-and-figures/
 http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/importa
nt-instagram-stats/