The concept of communication medium is applicable to that system that allows people to get in touch with each other.
System that communicates people and media that convey a message to a huge audience
And on the other hand it is also widely used to designate those media that allow a message to be transmitted to a large number of people, such is the case of radio, television, graphic press, internet, traditional mail, among others.
The name of mass communication media is generally used because of the enormous number of people to whom these media are able to reach with their messages.
The concept of communication medium, therefore, is also used to designate all the supports in which an idea or message can be transmitted.
Nowadays, however, the concept is commonly related to certain media, more specifically to newspapers or newspapers, television, radio, internet, graphic publications, as we just indicated.
Functions: inform, entertain and encourage consumption
As a whole, these media fundamentally fulfill the function of transmitting to society various types of information that are very important to their interests, for example, to find out about sensitive issues that make up their day-to-day life and thus be able to form a opinion of them, for recreation and entertainment, or to consume.
The positive impact of technology on the media: the fantastic immediacy
Without a doubt, the mass media and the technological advances that constantly reach them have changed the reality of humanity because today it is possible to see a war live, or know what exactly is happening at this moment on the other side of the planet. .
A true revolution.
Now, not everything is an advantage and we cannot ignore that the media are also capable of making their power felt with a methodology that is not at all noble, that is, manipulating information, mounting a sharp propaganda system in favor of a group or ideology, among others.
Historically, the media have been something very exclusive and always reserved for the upper social classes who could consume this type of information.
For this we must remember that it would not be until the nineteenth century that the literacy of societies would be expanded through public education.
Thus, it is understandable to note the growth that the media has had in the twentieth century and today.
This is due not only to improvements in technology, but especially to the fact that the amount of population available to receive this information is increasing.
The media are, as its name indicates, a medium on which ideas of various kinds are transmitted, which can be current news, advertising messages, ideological debates, etc.
The media are always transmitting a message in a language or code that must be accessible to the type of audience they are targeting, which is why there are different languages for different audiences.
Currently, the two most consumed media are undoubtedly the internet and television.
This has to do with the fact that they allow the use of a diverse range of audiovisual resources that easily attract the attention of the consumer.
On the other hand, they are much more accessible in economic terms.
Finally, in the case of the internet, we must also add an important and significant detail that is the immediacy with which the message reaches the recipient, being able to send an e-mail and receive it instantly, being able to read updated news at the last minute in a Internet news site or being able to listen to or get audiovisual material at the moment it is published.
The media today have a very important role since they are largely responsible for shaping the thinking of their public and here the game is very delicate since many media (product of political, economic or cultural interests) can send a wrong or interested message to an audience that is not used to being critical about it.
On the other hand, this constant evolution that some communication media are experiencing today is strictly related to the appearance of the internet a short time ago.
The Internet substantially changed the modes of communication and access to information, today everything is faster, instantaneous and is related, for example, in a technological device it is possible to contain several means of communication, that is, from a smartphone, a tablet or a computer we can access the internet, we can watch a television channel, listen to the radio, among other possibilities.
Of course, all this drastic change that continues to take place has demanded that the traditional media such as television, radio and the press adapt to the new times and add new technologies to their proposals.
