The Transformation of the Social Sphere Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Transformation of the Social Sphere - Essay Example It also kept the general population informed on current affairs, helped the educational system and provided literature to entertain the people. The next biggest invention that impacted mass media was the radio. The radio united humans by adding the cognitive element of being  able to hear additional communicative elements such as vocal inflexion as information travelled through radio waves into peoples’ homes. This influence was itself rendered nearly obsolete with the invention of film and television. The latest medium that surged at the end of the 20th century to rival the influence of the television has been the introduction of the desktop computer and widespread access to the internet. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect the mass media had on the temporal and spatial foundation of the social sphere. It is helpful to start with a common conception of what is meant when referring to the spatial and temporal foundations of the social sphere. The spatial dimension refers to the physical space that separates humans in different parts of the world in terms of geographical location. â€Å"Spatial structure is now seen not merely as an arena in which social life unfolds, but rather as a medium in which social relations are produced and reproduced† (Pries, 2002, p. 2), such as the virtual spaces of the television and the computer screen. Mass media also extends the space of experience because it provides a greater accessibility to a variety of information and places (Carpignano, 1997). In addition, it can bridge the gap between spatial linguistic barriers such as those that exist within the People’s Republic of China, where regional dialects prevent oral communication between regions. Because all literate Chinese share a similar written language, though, mass media enables these regions of China to communicate. Mass media has changed the way people have perceived the world for the last 500 years.   It has impacted the behaviour of human beings through technological advances such as the television by altering their daily patterns of activity and the established means of communicating important cultural values and ideas among members of a society.   However, with new technologies, some of the necessary interaction may return to these cultural interactions as they become more ‘real-time’ and enable individuals to not only hear the vocal inflexions of the individual they are speaking with but also visualize their facial features and other symbols of a physical presence through the virtual medium of the video screen.