You Are What You Watch: How Our Media Consumption Shapes Our Identity in a World of Algorithms
We’ve all heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’, but have you ever considered that the same might be true for the media we consume? From news articles to social media feeds, the content we consume daily can shape our thoughts, beliefs, and even our identities. So, just as we carefully choose our meals to nourish our bodies, perhaps it’s time we start being more intentional about what we feed our minds.
Media plays a significant role in shaping the values and beliefs of its audience, according to many media effect theories. However, the active audience theory rejects this notion, arguing that audiences are not passive recipients of media messages. Rather, they are actively engaged in interpreting and constructing meaning from media content.
