Social Structures and Culture

Social structures in our society are molded from the culture at which we choose to consume. Cultural consumption studies explore the intricacies behind the way people consume goods and how certain goods affects societal structures. For a full 24-hour period I recorded all the instances that I was a consumer of mediated culture. CUTURAL CONSUMPTION HABITS ARE INFLUENTIAL ON THE CONTENT OF EVERYDAY MEDIA.
During my day, I was consuming three main sources off mediated culture, the first was from television, the second was from the Internet, and the third was from music. Cultural consumption habits are continually changing. Because of this, media study firms examine our culture through the content we consume as a society. People who study mediated culture learn everything about us from what fashions will be “hot” next to what types of television series would be popular. The study of our consumption habits leads to the way our society is today, from what sitcom series are on television to what Nike shoes are on shelves. Walter Benjamin was one of the first to study the connection between media and culture. His work was popularized in his 1936 essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”.

During my 24-hour cultural consumption period I watched approximately two hours of television. During that time I was constantly ingesting culture from television shows, commercials, and movies. Throughout my day walking to class, I was exposed to many different forms of mediated culture. For example, I saw propaganda on posters and billboards and listened to music that influences cultural change. Once I was finished with my classes I sat down for dinner and read the newspaper. I realized I was consuming more than just food, I was consuming culture on a global stage. Media influences culture so much because media is connected to everyone. Today, since everyone is networked together, culture has become a direct influence on society through the content shared on these global mediums. After dinner, I went and got on the Internet where I personally consume most of my mediated culture. After I spend most of my night on the computer I realize I spend approximately 75% of my typical day exposed to different culture-consuming media.

Some of the organizations that generate the content I consume during my typical day were The Seattle Post, The Discovery Channel, NCAA Basketball Association, Komo 4 News, and Nike. These organizations study our culture to help marketing and business profits. Big organizations like these have study teams that try to comprehend what the next “hit” product will be. As culture changes media must change to fit the needs of society, this is why televisions shows fade in and out. Take the HBO channel for example, it has an entirely different lineup of television shows each day. Today the HBO channel studies why certain films are consumed by culture while others are not. Mediated culture is a term that refers to how media affects cultural trends or cultural consumption habits. The media industry studies our culture like a scientist studies a test subjects. They investigate our culture and probe our society to find out how and why we consume certain goods. “What we consume, ends up consuming us” Brad Pit, Fight Club