Social and Visual Influences Essay

We have so many different resources when it comes to visual entertainment. We get our information from the news, radio, internet and smart phones now-a-days. How one person sees a story might not be the same way when you hear it from another source. American culture and its values can send out the wrong message if it is portrayed wrong. For instance, when people think of Las Vegas normally the first thing everyone thinks of is the casinos on the strip. No one thinks of the communities there and what Las Vegas has done. Same thing goes when people think of Palm Springs, a lot of people think it is full of gay and lesbians, when in real life that is not the case at all. It is a beautiful city with friendly people and lovely shops, but not many people know that. In America there is a lot of stereotyping that goes along with our culture and what we believe in. We base what we “know” off of what we hear from the news, radio and internet.  

Social influences can affect people significantly. I think the social influences are both positive and negative. It can be positive because of what we stand for but at the same time it can be negative. I think it depends on what you hear and see and what you choose to believe. Everyone interprets things differently.   What other people do can have a powerful impact on others. For example, if there was an accident that happened in front of you while you were with a group of friends, would you go help? Some may help, some may not because they think someone else will. Normally, if one person goes to help others will follow.

Visual media has a major influence on social behavior and attitudes. What we see and hear has a huge impact on the way we live our lives. Some people mimic the lives of others and what they see and hear throughout America. For instance, there are people out there who believe that there are zombies in the world. Why, because there was news stories about people eating other peoples flesh in various states. They...