An Undefinable Term

I am taking a course called Mass Communication. This makes it very important for me to know what 'mass media' is. I decided that I want to document how much I learn from writing this post by stating my definition of 'mass media' before and after I do my research.

BEFORE:

As far as I know, 'mass media' is any form of media viewed, read, listened to, warn, or just used by the masses, ie the world, communicating ideas. This could be things like radio, compact disks, the World Wide Web or even clothing.

AFTER:

'Mass media' is any type of medium that can transmit mass communication. This used to be defined as eight things; books, newspapers, radio, movies, television, magazines, recordings and The Internet. Now, because there is always new digital communication emerging we can no longer define 'mass media' as easily. In fact, it has become so difficult to define 'mass media' that it doesn't have one clear definition. For example, there are debates on whether or not some cell phones should be considered 'mass media'. On one hand a cell phone is a form of 'mass media' because it can connect to the Internet, but because it's original purpose is to connect two people it is unclear.

In reading this it is clear that I had different ideas about what exactly 'mass media' is before I did my research than after. What I realize now is that there is no real definition for 'mass media' so my initial definition could be entirely correct. I still see 'mass media' as a medium with which the world can communicate ideas to each other, so that part of my definition didn't change. The one thing I've learned for sure is that it is impossible to define something that is always expanding and changing. We might as well call it an undefinable term.

Works Cited

Lane, Beth, “What is Mass Media?”, Suite101.com, June 29, 2007, Available: http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_is_mass_media_