Television Perpetuates our Pop-Culture Myths: But Perhaps Social Media Sets us Free

   This posting differs from the Common Culture article/myth topic i gleaned from the 1993 article by Gerbner stating that TV is Society's storyteller. Because of Facebook, social media and exploding web use that came after '93, my assertion is that that is only partially true.

   The public’s inherent need to tell and hear stories has propelled television into the heart of its viewers’ perceptions of world and local events. Though George Gerbner’s article was written in 1993 – pre-internet prevalence – it gives a narrative about the myths and still pervasive on cable and network television. Television also ties into my other paper’s pop-culture theme, the good/evil myth of personal-injury lawyer advertising. TV ritualizes, institutionalizes, entertains and socializes. Besides those myths, it helps consumers make choices, about what to believe, what lawyer to hire, and how much trust to put into the world around them. Social media does the same, but widens choice.

     TV creates the myths, to some extent, by which we live. We are storytellers, we believe in ancient good/evil struggles perpetuated by our legends, and we need to form opinions about the world around us. The internet has changed some of Gerber’s assumptions, but there likely still are 5 acts of violence an hour on TV. That attracts male viewers, whether or not they are still 3:1 to women in the audience. Children also watch mostly adult-programmed television. Only 7 percent is “children’s programming.” So TV is the overall mythology “we grow up in and grow with.” (Gerbner, 119)

   The author sorts time into pre-print, print and telecommunications. I would add to that mix the post-1993 internet, most notably Facebook and other social media.  “The Cultural Influences of Television: Society’s Storyteller: How TV Creates the Myths by Which We Live” is a Gerbner’s concise yet partial look at U.S. popular culture.

    Social media brings TV’s ritual fan base to hand-held smartphones. It divests TV’s moguls of their control over what is watched. The internet overall is more “total” in encompassing virtually anything you can google. And the web/Facebook amplify TV’s socializing process with richer media, greater variety and different viewpoints.

References:

“The Cultural Influences of Television: Society’s Storyteller: How TV Creates the Myths by Which We Live (Gerbner, G.) 1993

Common Culture: Reading and Writing about American Popular Culture

   (Petracca, M., Sorapure, M.) 2012 University of California at Santa Barbara

         Seventh Edition, Pearson