Good thread, just spent some time trying to catch up.
link LA times 2009The amount of television usage by children reached
an eight-year high, with kids ages 2 to 5 watching the screen for more than 32 hours a week on average and those ages 6 to 11 watching more than 28
hours. The analysis, based on the fourth quarter of 2008, measured children's consumption of live and recorded TV, as well as VCR and game console
usage.
I'm 21, so I experienced early childhood in the 90's. That was just the beginning of the mass media age and is nowhere near what it is today. The
psychology of kids born after 2000 must be quite unique in history.
The general causes of information overload include:
-A rapidly increasing rate of new information being produced
-The ease of duplication and transmission of data across the Internet
-An increase in the available channels of incoming information (e.g. telephone, e-mail, instant messaging, rss)
-Large amounts of historical information to dig through
-Contradictions and inaccuracies in available information
-A low signal-to-noise ratio
-A lack of a method for comparing and processing different kinds of information
-The pieces of information are unrelated or do not have any overall structure to reveal their relationships
information overload
We're all getting bombarded with information like never before, and it's increasingly difficult to put the pieces together because it's hard to
discern which sources are reliable. This effect must be even more pronounced in early childhood.
This information is not limited to world news, but also applies to smaller social circles. In the facebook age, everyone's social life is documented
and can be compared against one another.
A recent study finds a new link between one's abundance of Facebook friends and narcissism.
from cbs news
I think it's fair to say most people spend more time thinking about their personal lives than national economics, politics, or power tactics. Now,
with never ending information on websites devoted to the personal life, this tendency can feed on itself forever.
It's possible that the common effect of abundant information available in mass media is a person getting overwhelmed and running toward their bias.
While these developments are challenging, the benefits of media growth should be considered as well. The mass media outlets that most rely on have an
increasing ability to control the psychology of millions, but there are more alternative sources than ever before for those who are not satisfied.
When learning about the world, we have more information access than ever which has the benefit of wide consideration and the flaw of wide confusion.
It's easier to find facts and more difficult to find conclusions.
It might be a good idea to introduce some media psychology type stuff into the public school system to lower influential abuse. At this point, the
children of America are on a run away train driven by a corporate conductor. With that said, this is a very new issue and time will hopefully bring
counter measures.
edit on 3-9-2012 by PatrickGarrow17 because: (no reason given)