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Impact of Media on the Youth
Impact of Media on the Youth
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Introduction
To control the media is to control the minds of the masses. Over the last decades, various forms of media have taken hold and shaped society in impactful ways. To date, media influences and affects people of all ages, with the youth being the most affected. The youth are not fully mature and developed; therefore, media easily influences them. Positive impacts media has on the youth include the development of social and political sense, self-expression, and health awareness. Negative impacts include the development of erroneous beliefs and negative images and perceptions. Media is a powerful tool that shapes the beliefs and ideas of people. Therefore, there is a need for strict regulation on the information that youth view and engage.
Positive Impacts
The period between adulthood and childhood is a time of rapid emotional and physical changes. These changes tend to overwhelm and confuse individuals in their youth. As such, the ability to express oneself during this development phase is important. Through platforms such as the internet, media has provided the youth with the opportunity and platform for self-expression. Internet tools such as social media platforms and blogs provide the youth with spaces to interact with their peers and share their experiences and emotions. A safe space to share experiences and emotions helps promote confidence and social validation as it is apparent that all people at that age experience confusion (Weinstein, 2018). Self-expression is also important as it helps build self-identity. As the youth continuously express themselves, they can identify and define their values and interests and thus understand themselves.
Media plays an important role in health awareness as governments and health institutions use this platform to run health-related campaigns. Due to the popularity of social media among the youth, the internet has been a crucial source of health information for the youth. A study by Rutgers University found that youth who use social media to gain sexual health information were more likely to practice safe sex than their counterparts (Stevens et al., 2017). Other health-related issues constantly highlighted on the internet include mental problems such as anxiety and depression and diet-related issues such as food addiction and anorexia. Teenagers frequently exposed to information that addresses these issues have a higher chance of making better-informed choices that promote their health.
Emerging technologies have eased communication and the spread of social, development, and political information. Institutions are increasingly using the media to spread information on various issues that affect the world and its populations. Therefore, youth interested in current affairs can interact and engage in topics such as climate change, poverty, elections, gender inequality, and development (Boulianne & Theocharis, 2020). The increased interest and engagement in civic, social, and political life helps the youth develop a social and political sense of self. It also equips them with information and understanding that can help them implement positive change in the future.
Negative Impacts
Besides the stated positive impacts, media is also a source of negative influence. New technologies have made the spread of information quick and easy. As a result, it is now common for false and biased information to spread and reach many people. The youth are more likely to believe this information, negatively influencing their attitudes and beliefs. False information can also result in the adoption of wrong perceptions. For instance, false dieting and nutritional information can influence youth beliefs about foods. These beliefs can result in the youth consuming foods that are bad for their health.
Conclusion
Media has the power to influence the youth’s beliefs, attitudes, and ideas. Media has positive and negative impacts on society, and its influence is most evident among the youth. As young people are impressionable, people need to understand the impact media has on the youth. Understanding these impacts ensures better content regulation, preventing negative influences on the youth.
References
Boulianne, S., & Theocharis, Y. (2020). Young people, digital media, and engagement: A meta-analysis of research. Social Science Computer Review, 38(2), 111-127.
Stevens, R., Gilliard-Matthews, S., Dunaev, J., Todhunter-Reid, A., Brawner, B., & Stewart, J. (2017). Social media use and sexual risk reduction behavior among minority youth: Seeking safe sex information. Nursing Research, 66(5), 368.
Weinstein, E. (2018). The social media see-saw: Positive and negative influences on adolescents’ affective well-being. New Media & Society, 20(10), 3597-3623.
Fiction Short Story
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Fiction Short Story
Wonderland was a village that nobody wanted to be associated with. As the name suggests, this village was full of wonders and everything, people, animals, birds, trees and stones, was extraordinary. Every person who lived in this village had to be in possession of a certain charm in order survive. Village elders introduced a law that ensured any child born without magic would be killed because chances of survival for such a child were limited. Many expectant women ran away from the village in fear of their children being murdered. I personally do not believe in magic but the stories of Wonderland are very unique that no one would love to stay there even for a single second. Trees used to move from one location to the next. It was not a wonder to hear some quarrels in the bush only to find two big trees fighting each other. In addition, children were warned not to get deep into the forest because there were a lot of man eaters.
It came a time when four women were pregnant at the same time. They gave birth to four kids, who were very different from the rest of the villagers. The kids’ names were John, James, Sarah and Monica. John’s magic started immediately he was born. After birth, the midwife who assisted John’s mother to deliver slapped him so that he could cry. It is normal for a child to cry immediately after birth. John opened his eyes and produced a fume of hot gas that burned the midwife destroying her face completely. When magicians were asked about this phenomenon, they claimed that John was angry because the woman slapped him. James was born with big ears and his body was covered with fur. Monica’s magic was revealed a day after her birth. Her mother noticed some growth on Monica’s back only to discover that her child was growing wings. Sarah’s magic was not revealed even after staying for three years. The elders ordered for her murder but the magician protected her claiming that she might be hiding her magic.
The four children grew up to the time they were ten years old. All this time, nobody ever played along with their anger. Even the great magicians of the village could not dare threaten any one of them. At the age of fifteen, they all underwent an initiation ceremony together. In the village, there were monster grasshoppers and other insects that used to eat small children. At one time, Sarah was taken away by a huge safari ant. Sarah was unfortunate because she had no charm. She screamed for help as the ant dragged her into the forest. Other villagers tried to help her but they could not overcome the strength of the ant. Eventually, Monica emerged from nowhere and flew with the ant to the skies. After some time a loud bang was heard. It was the safari ant that had been dropped so many miles from the sky. Monica later came holding Sarah in her arms.
One afternoon as the children were playing around the compound, a huge eagle came and picked two children. The other children cried for help as their friends were taken higher into the sky. This was the time for the three magicians to prove their charms. John, James and Monica set for a journey to the forest to look for the gone children. By that time, James was looking like an animal since her was covered with fur everywhere. To make the matters worse, instead of feet he had hooves. They carried with them bows, arrows, swords and shields ready for the battle with the jungle creatures. Sarah heard of their journey and wanted to join them. Her mother refused telling her, “Look my lovely daughter, do not go to the jungle because you can get yourself killed. You do not have any magic like your friends, please stay with me.” Sarah answered her, “Mother, I do not have any charm but, John will protect me.” She begged her mother to let her go and eventually she agreed. Sarah’s mother gave her a small rope and Sarah placed it inside her bag.
The journey to the jungle was not an easier one. They met many animals on their way but John could burn all of them to death with his hot fumes. During one instance, James fought with an elephant. James had an extra-ordinary power that he was able to twist the neck of an elephant. In the forest, a lot of things looked unique. Stones were crying while knocking at each other. At night they all rested under a tree. Sarah could not sleep because of fear. Eventually, she discovered that the tree was curving around them. Immediately, the tree swallowed all of them in its stem. They screamed for help but there was nobody to help them. Monica tried her magic but it could not work inside the tree. James, the strongest man in the village tried to break the tree but could not manage. John, the fire breather tried to burn the tree but it produced a lot of water that put off the fire. Inside the tree, they found skeletons of different animals and human beings. It was very horrific inside that tree.
After staying inside the tree for 20 hours, they all gave up and waited for their time to be eaten. The tree would swallow many creatures and eat each at a time. The stem acted as storage for its next meal. Sarah prayed God would rescue her wishing she had listened to her mother. Sarah remembered the rope that her mother had given her. She took out the rope and tied it on her wrist. Immediately, the rope produced a very bright light that everyone was forced to close their eyes. Sarah realized her magic had come. She screamed so loud and continuously. The stem started to crack as Sarah’s vibrations increased. Eventually, the tree fell down and broke into pieces. John, James and Monica were rescued from the tree. They all thanked Sarah for saving their lives. They decided to go back home to tell other how Sarah saved them.
The villagers were very proud of Sarah and she was nicknamed “Savior.” What they never realized was that Sarah was there to stop further magicians from being born in the village. Every person who stared at Sarah lost his or her magic immediately. After three years, the village had no magic and people lived a normal life thereafter. The only funny thing was that when Sarah got married to James, they gave birth to a boy with one horn and a tail.
E-commerce plan
E-commerce plan
Online advertising
Online advertising has gained momentum in the past few years. The online advertising is growing at a rapid rate of 20% in countries like America, India and other developed nations. All the organizations, whether big or small, are trying to find ways to advertise themselves online to gain more revenues and have their presence felt in a larger way. Internet is widely used in today’s retail world to sale and purchase merchandise. It can be used for trading anything. The use of online retailing has increased due to easy accessibility, convenience, assessment of prices, and economical in use. Online retailing started with eBay and Amazon and has reached new heights since then (Limayem, et all, 2000).
Online retailing of books has become very popular. Many books stores have experienced decline in their sales due to opening of these virtual book stores. Due to emerging competition in this field, an e-business can flourish only if it is able to satisfy the needs of the customer better than others by providing them with vast choices. Lower prices, varied choices, excellent services, convenience of the customers are some of the steps that can help the e-business to flourish (Vassos, 1996).
Revenues can be generated by an online bookstore only if the company advertises itself successfully. The medium of advertising through online is completely different from other means of advertising (Yang, 2003). Online advertising is paid advertising. Now there are different types of advertising which can be used. These are:-
Pay per click- this form of advertisement is for those companies who have financial strength to venture in advertisements for bringing traffic to their sites. For example Google AdWords. This is a good option because here the customer will type in the actual information (keyword) that he expects from the product. This is done before clicking on the advertisement. This option is very good alternative to reap high profits quickly and increase the online traffic on the website. However the flip side is, there is huge competition in pay per click advertisement. In order to be successful in this type of advertisement the company needs to be experienced in using this medium as well should be financially sound. So for trying this mode of campaigning, it is best to undergo some training before actually wasting lots of financial resources (Yang, et al, 2009).
Banner advertising- this is the oldest form of advertisement mode. Earlier there would be physical banners but now there are virtual banners. The banner placed on the website (any)should be flashy, attractive, meek, memorable, and appealable. Those customers who click on this banner will eventually be guided towards the website of the company. However the problem with this advertisement is that web users have started monitoring these banners by starting banner blindness. Because of this only a small group of people can actually see the advertisement. So the company needs to be aware that they are not spending too much on these banners especially if the company is shelling per impression. Impression means that the advertisement will show up a particular number of times. This company will be charged regard less of whether anyone visited the site or not.
Newsletter advertisement- in this the company can place the advertisement in the ad space of the newsletter (also called as e-zine) of webmaster or vendors running email programs. The cost involved is very low as compared to other modes of advertising. This method helps in reaching large number of subscribers. The method is very simple as there can be just a simple link directed towards the company’s website or it can also be stated that company is the sponsor of the newsletter. Usually publishers give a lot of space on the webpage of the publications to be emailed. This way one gets lot of exposure. A simple way to advertise one’s product and services by including the information about the website in the newsletter.
Affiliate marketing- is another means to advertise products and services through internet. This is especially true for e-books. It means that the company can outsource the sales representatives to customers who will be selling the product for a certain percentage of commission on each sale. Here the commission is not paid until the actual sale takes place. The commission is based on per sale. the burden is on the company to promote its affiliate in the suitable market. Once this has been done, the company can relax as it is now the job of these affiliates to do everything to sell the product. They can opt for anything like pay per click or article writing. It is their headache to drive traffic to the company’s website and initiate the sale of the product. The problem is that many companies do not believe in this idea as they think it will not benefit them. They don’t trust affiliates and think that something wrong is going on. If this is ignored, the process is quite simple. The affiliate has to just convince the customer that this affiliate program is legal, money making and lucrative. There are various networks promoting this kind of affiliate programs like Clickbank and Paydotcom, etc (Yang, et al, 2009).
Social media- this is one of the most popular form of advertising these days. Companies use online forums like blogging sites to advertise themselves. Facebook, My Space, Twitter, are some of the common forums where companies can advertise themselves as these are hugely popular. The website of the company offers huge scope for advertisements and promotions. All those users whom the company wishes to address can do so by enrolling with Facebook or any other social media. This way company saves time, money and energy on taking decision as to who should see the advertisement.
Since the company here is e-book shop it is advisable for them to go for affiliate marketing or pay per click. Both of them are effective methods to reach large audience in a simplest way.
Online payment methods
There are various modes of collecting online payment. Since the transaction is online and the real buyer or seller cannot see each other, it is very essential that a secure payment system is conceptualized.
Some of the common methods available are:-
Credit cards- are one of the earliest and safest ways to collect payment. Through this method the company is fully secured that payment is credited in its bank. To accept payment through a credit card the company must be protected by 128 SSL certificate. Credit card can be accepted online or through ant payment gateway or even through company driven point of sale terminal. So for processing credit cards online so that receipts can come to the bank of the company automatically, the company needs to meet three essential requirements. First it needs to have payment gateway, second a bank account and lastly a certificate by SSL. Payment gateways help in authorizing the transaction by helping to move funds from the credit card account to the company’s bank account. A bank account is essential to receive all the money authorized from the payment gateway.
PayPal – is another method to receive funds in the account. If a company is using PayPal it need not maintain a merchant account and a SSL certificate or payment gateway account. PayPal can be signed up for free i.e. without any cost. There is no a monthly fee or set up cost. PayPal only charges fees per transaction. Payment via credit cards can also be collected through PayPal.
Another version of PayPal is PayPal Express. Here the shopping cart is directly linked to PayPal Express account. The customer who moves finalizes shopping cart and moves towards checking out is directly directed towards the PayPal site to finish the payment process. The customers get an advantage here that they can store their credit card information on the PayPal’s website (Malone, 1987). This is a safest mode to transact online.
Chase Paymentech- is automatic payment gateway for credit cards. It also links directly to the shopping cart of the company. In this payment method the company can accept the credit card by being at storefront. For this again, the company needs to possess SSL certificate attached to the account. When the customer uses credit card to purchase any good from the company’s website it will be already authorized (McNeill, 2007).
Cash on delivery- is the safest mode of collecting payment for online sale. After the transaction is effected, the seller delivers the goods. After the delivery has been made, payment is collected. If the purchaser does not make the payment, the delivery is taken back. This is suitable for customers who are not ready to spill their credit card information to anyone.
Purchase order and Checks- in this after the sale has taken place, the customer can take a print out of the purchase order. Then he places a call to the seller to come and collect the payment via check or cash. This option is convenient for customers who do not want to give their personal details to the seller company. Also the seller benefits as he can handle customer to customer specifications individually without any failure.
All the payment methods described above are purely safe in their operation. If the company doesn’t trust the credit card holders, it can go for Cash in delivery option. It is safe and convenient to both seller and purchaser. If they are sure to collect payment immediately then nothing is more successful than going through PayPal method.
References
Limayem, M., Khalifa, M. & Frini, A. (2000). What makes consumers buy from the internet? A longitudinal study of online shopping. IEEE Transactions on Systems. Man and Cybernetics – Part A: Systems and Humans, Vol. 30, No. 4, 421–432.
Malone, T., JoAnne, Y., & Benjamin, R,. (1987). Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies. Communications of the ACM ,30(6), 484-497.
McNeill, B. (2007). At UVA, a new textbook option: Rental bookstore also offers e-books, guaranteed buyback. Daily Progress Journal, No 94, 654- 672.Vassos, T. (1996). Strategic Internet Marketing, Que Corp., Indianapolis, IN.
Yang, B. (2003). Purchasing textbooks online. Applied Economics, Vol. 35, 1265–1269.
Yang. J., Zielinski, J., and Cheng, L. (2009). Purchasing college textbook from E- bookstore- An empirical study. International Journal Management in Education, Vol. 3, No. 2, 162-
178.