How vulnerable are you to the influence of the media today?
A quick view of the Hypodermic Needle Theory and its application in today’s world
The Hypodermic Needle Theory, or the Magic Bullet Theory, is a theory conceptualized in the 1920s by Harold Lasswell. The name bullet or needle is used because the idea refers to the mass media as a powerful gun or syringe that shoots (or injects) messages into the audience’s head.
This theory was accepted when mass communication was still new, and communication research was not as sophisticated as a few years later. The theory is based on assumptions, had little empirical evidence, and was supported by the mass media used during World War II.
In 1940, research was conducted during the U.S. presidential election to verify the Hypodermic Needle Theory. However, the study results did not validate the theory. Instead, it showed that mass media had little impact on people’s choices. The findings showed that other stimuli influenced people, like interpersonal interactions. Since then, more studies have been conducted, and more conclusions have been made, invalidating the Hypodermic Needle Theory.
Nowadays, the way people receive information from the media is changing. A few decades ago, families would sit in front of the TV to watch the news channels. Now, with the rise of the internet and the use of social media, the way people obtain information is shifting to digital sources. According to Pew Research Center, more than eight-in-ten Americans get news from digital devices.
The line between personal and impersonal has become thinner. If you have social media, you have probably scrolled your social media feed and faced the news about the Ukraine war right next to the news about your middle school friend getting engaged.
Although the Hypodermic Needle Theory is proved not to be applicable in today’s reality, it is still plausible that the way people consume media has shifted the mass media’s influence on them. We can say that mass media does not inject information into people’s heads as easily as the theory implies and, the audience is not as passive as it used to be.
The audience is active, and the internet gives people the power to create and share content. The audience can now spread information the same way the mass media does.
The advantage of news being spread massively by the audience is that the messages can become more personal. It’s not only some news from a BBC reporter. It’s now some news from a BBC reporter that my neighbor next door shared. Research conducted in 2017 found that Americans care more about who shared a piece of information than who created it.
Communication is constantly evolving. While more Americans believe that the influence of the media is now growing, things could change in the near future. Still, the growing number of media and information available makes me more resistant to the influence of mass media today than my parents were thirty years ago.
How about you? Do you consider yourself resistant or vulnerable to the media? Let me know in the comments your thoughts about the Hypodermic Needle Theory and the shift in the way people get information and communicate.
