Media is powerful and there is a view that people controlling the media also hugely influence attitudes and opinions of the people, which is something that is difficult to change. Although media is influential as a whole, I believe social media has actually contributed to a rise in freedom of speech in recent years, which means I only partly agree with the given statement.
It is true that media is still generally influential among people. TV, radio and print media are a source of information and entertainment, which are a part of many peoples’ lives. As a matter of fact, millions of people still rely on these platforms to access information about the recent local and global events, and some of those platforms can be biased. However, the mentioned types of media are more impactful among the older generations, meaning their power is gradually fading away.
With regard to younger people, social media is the most dominant media platform, and it is simultaneously the most flexible. In other words, social media applications, such as Instagram, Twitter and Telegram, allow users to exchange in open conversations about nearly any topic. There is also less censorship and less propaganda, which means people are less likely to be affected by publications that have a specific agenda. These features prove that social media is giving the people a space where they can shape their views and attitudes not only based on a common narrative, but the views of regular people as well.
In conclusion, even though traditional types of media such as television, newspapers and radio still affect how numerous people think and behave, social media, a more contemporary platform, is giving people a new medium where the key is not shaping people’s views but interacting.