Mass Media as it Has

Mass Media as it Has Changed Through Three Sociological Eras First of all, we need to point out from the very beginning that mass media will encompass here a broader term than the strict media idea we know today. Since we are going back to the times of the Agrarian Age, when the idea of 'mass media' was much different from what we know today, we need to be able to encompass in the notion the actual characteristics of mass media we might have seen at the time.

Basically, the first known dated printed book comes from China, from around 868 AD and was referred to as "Diamond Sutra," while printed books entered Europe only with the apparition of Guttenberg's printed press, in 1453. One can definitely not undermine the formidable significance of the printed press and what it meant for society at that point, as well as further along the historical timeline.

Indeed, the invention of the printed press marked an important change in the way ideas were disseminated, as well as in the way simple information was passed along from person to person. Up to that point this had been done primarily in oral form, by direct speech from individual to individual or groups of persons, or by handwriting.

The problem with the latter was that this was generally a very lengthy process, it took a lot of time and, as such, could only reach a small number of recipients over a certain period of time. Media during the period up to 800 AD and to 1453 in Europe was indeed a product of that respective era and the reasons for this come from the distinct characteristics of the respective eras.

Indeed, if we are to refer to Europe and notice its characteristics at that point, we can only draw the conclusion that media could not have been different. Up to the 15th century, but especially during the initial periods of the Middle Ages and during the Dark Ages, mass communication between individuals was unnecessary. First of all, there were very few individuals living in Europe during that time.

The barbarian invasions generally marked a reduction in the population in Europe and people were not only few, but widely spread, with regions generally having a low territorial density. What this meant was basically that people did not communicate with one another and did not need to. Communities were scarce and geographically far away from one another. Life was simple and revolved around the cultivation of the ground, which knowledge was generally passed on from father to son on a verbal basis, from generation to generation.

As such, during the Agrarian Age, mass media reflected the society it was part of. This was also the case in the subsequent transition, between the Agrarian Age and the Industrial Age, when the first actual newspapers, representatives of the new style media appeared. With the development of the industrial revolutions, not only did people live closer together, in growing cities, but they were also becoming more concerned with the society they lived in and to become more interested in elements about their society.

Mass media in industrial societies began to reflect things of interest for the workers, while in agrarian societies, like the Southern states of the U.S., the media and newspapers still covered basic information about growing crops, for example. In industrial societies, mass media developed as a growing need for the individuals in those societies to become informed and to respond to the issues going on in the world.

In my opinion, at this point mass media turns from being a material of information to being a reflective material as well. In other words, moving on from the type of agrarian almanacs in circulation to that point, we have a mass media which reflects on current events. Finally, we arrive to the digital world and to the transitions that made this world possible. The necessities of today's word again encouraged the characteristics of the media itself. First of all, communication nowadays needs to be (1) safe and (2) efficient.

This is why the development of such means of communication as the Internet saw the apparition of new means of mass media, such as online blogs. On the other hand, the society today relies infinitely.