Audience theory 2

Audience theory 2

1) Social learning theory has been criticised for simplifying the causes of violence in society. Do you think the media is responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence?
I believe that the media is completely responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence since youtube promotes violence through memes and youtubers that find it entertaining to post violence. This influences young teenagers use violent and aggression in the real world.

2) How is social learning theory relevant in the digital age? Are young people now learning behaviour from social media and the internet? Give examples.
Young people are learning behaviour from social medias at this digital age such as Instagram. Many uses post challenges such as the Dele Ali challenge where Dele Ali performed something remarkable which forced other people to try and learn the challenge.

3) Research five examples of moral panic from the last 50 years. To what extent was the media responsible for these moral panics? Was the concern in society justified? How have things changed as a result of these moral panics?
1. One major moral panic was when Donald Trump became president which created fear amongst the American citizens. People feared that him becoming president will lead to world war 3. 
2. Another moral panic is the amount of bombings that has occurred in the US and the amount of terrorist attacks that have been reported on the news. This increases public concerns which creates fear amongst the society.
3. the third moral panic from the last 50 years is the number of knife crimes in London; parents have been concerned about their children and have started creating curfews for their children due to the number knife crimes. There has been over 40,000 innocent civilians who have been injured from knife use. This generates fear amongst the younger generation as they are scared to leave their house late.
4.Another moral panic was Ebola. Ebola was the disease that took the lives of numerous of people. This frightened the worlds population because the population was decreasing significantly in a short period of time. There was over 12,000 victims and 4000 deaths. Ebola was all over the news which created fear for everyone as it could be transmitted by a single touch. 
5. The satanic ritual abuse scare was a moral panic that began in the 1980s in north america which lasted for ten years. Satanic Ritual Abuse (SRA) can be defined as the psychological, sexual, and/or physical assault forced on an unwilling human victim and committed by one or many people. Parents were gripped by an overpowering fear that the preschool was a haven for vicious sex abuse to young children.

4) Read this introduction to an academic paper on technopanics. What examples are given of technopanics that create fear in society?
The examples of technopanics that create fear in society are child safety, digital privacy and cybercsecurity

5) How does the author suggest that technopanics should be addressed - rather than through government regulation?
The author suggests that technopanics should be addressed by ongoing societal learning, experimentation, resiliency, and coping strategies rather than by regulation.  If steps must be taken to address these concerns, education- and empowerment-based solutions represent superior approaches to dealing with them.

6) Do you think the internet should be regulated? Should the government try and control what we can access online
It's debatable because young children shouldn't have access to websites that are suitable for 18 and plus only. However, some people say that people that have access to the internet should have freedom and have the rights to go on what ever they like, that it is unacceptable to rule someone out from doing what they enjoy.


7) Apply Gerbner's cultivation theory to new and digital media. Is the internet creating a fearful population? Are we becoming desensitised to online threats, trolling and abuse?
Applying gerbner's cultivation theory about heavy viewers of television are exposed to more violence and cause a threat to the society. This creates fear for others that view the internet showcasing violent footage such as shooting , stabbing or police brutality. People who are high frequency views will reinforce this violent behaviour shown on the internet.

8) Is heavy internet use something we should be worried about in society? How would you define 'heavy internet use'? 
Viewing the internet for a long period of time can manipulate people to do bad this and increase their aggression behaviour. This will affect others that are viewing the internet since people's violent behaviour is used by posting violent footage's. I define heavy internet uses as uses that expose their violence on the intenet due to the affect of heavy internet use. People who show evidence that they have been effected by the use of internet in a negative way.