Читать книгу Essentials of Sociology - George Ritzer - Страница 148

Until recently, much of the emphasis on the role of the mass media in socialization has been on the effects of television and the enormous number of hours per week children spend in front of their TVs (Comstock and Scharrer 2007). TV remains an important socialization agent, especially for young children. However, it is clear that as children mature, especially in the middle and upper classes, more of their socialization is taking place via the computer, smartphones, tablets, video games, and other recent and emerging technologies (Rideout, Foehr, and Roberts 2010). As the range of media devices has expanded, so has the portion of time spent using them. In 2011, infants and children up to the age of 8 spent an average of 5 minutes on mobile devices, while in 2017 they spent an average of 48 minutes on such devices (Common Sense Media 2017a, b). The percentage of young people who own their own media devices is high and, for the most part, increasing.

Of course, a world of wonderful information is available to children on the computer via Google and other forms of new media. However, there are also lots of worrying things online that children can easily find or stumble upon. In addition, access to computers has changed the viewing experience considerably. Watching TV programs or movies is a passive activity. Even when “adult themes” are presented, the child is an observer, not a participant. However, on computers and other new digital media, the child can play video games such as Minecraft, Slime Rancher, Fortnite, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. Some of these games engage children in simulations of antisocial activities, such as stealing cars, evading police chases, and engaging in shootouts. Clearly, the nature of the socialization implicit in such games is at odds with the lessons parents and teachers wish to impart.

Smartphones and social networking sites play a role in socialization as well, mostly through the influence of peers (Ibáñez-Cubillas, Díaz-Martín, and Díaz-Martín 2017). A great deal of peer socialization also takes place via sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat (boyd 2014; Skoog, Sobring, and Bohlin 2015). On average, 1.5 billion people log onto Facebook daily, and among 18- to 24-year-olds 94 percent watch videos shared on YouTube and 78 percent use Snapchat, often more than once a day (Smith and Anderson 2018). All of this is so new, and new forms of media are emerging so rapidly, that it is hard to know exactly what role the new media will play in socialization in the future, but its role is likely to be increasingly powerful and pervasive.