Investigating the relationship between media literacy and lifestyle (case study) of 15 to 18-year-old high school students in the sixth district of Tehran

Master's Thesis in Social Communication Sciences

Abstract

In today's era, when information-based communication has penetrated geographical boundaries and marked tremendous changes in the global arena, the media as a useful tool can help the people of the 21st century to achieve a desired, ideal and fruitful life by using the latest scientific achievements; In addition, if the tool is used incorrectly or with bad intentions, it can act as a destructive and disastrous force. In order to be able to have an audience in front of the existing multiple media, who can protect their lives against its challenges and destructive consequences in addition to consciously and actively benefiting from media messages; A new skill must be learned, which is called media literacy.

In addition to the remarkable ability in traditional literacy, which is the skill of reading and writing, media literacy creates in humans the ability to analyze and evaluate the message and the power to transmit the information contained in the message to others in different formats and with different tools. Also, by empowering a person to understand the way of working and the way of making meaning of the media, i.e. the nature of the message and the goals of its production, as well as the effect of the media on the audience and the various techniques used for this purpose, it removes him from mere consumption and protects his lifestyle from the destructive effects of the media. Therefore, the basic issue of the research is what is the relationship between media literacy and lifestyle? In order to find the answer to this problem in the field of media literacy, the views of Potter, Toman and Hobbes have been used, and the views of Weber and Veblen have been used for lifestyle. The statistical population of the research includes 15 to 18-year-old high school teenagers in the sixth district of Tehran, and the sample size is equal to 379 people using the Karjesi and Morgan table, who were selected by cluster sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher's questionnaire made of a response package based on a five-point Likert scale, and the research data was analyzed using SPSS software.

The findings of the research indicate that media literacy and its dimensions include awareness of the hidden goals of media messages, understanding the content of media messages, conscious selection of media messages, a critical look at media messages, and finally, analysis of media messages with lifestyle and its dimensions, including behavior with parents, relationship with sex. On the contrary, there is a positive and significant relationship between entertainment, school behavior and the type of clothing.

Key words: Media literacy, lifestyle, teenagers

Introduction

Many think that they are more or less media literate. They know the names of many websites, songs, books, magazines, movies and TV shows. They recognize the faces and names of famous people. They know how to study. They can easily follow the main theme in movies and TV shows. They know the meaning of terms like flashback and they know that when the soft soundtrack of a movie reaches a shocking climax when one of the movie's characters steps into a dangerous scene, they should be afraid. They may even have the necessary skills in playing subsidized games, downloading songs and uploading videos on a personal website. They clearly know how to present themselves in front of the media, absorb information and entertain themselves with them. Are these people media literate? yes of course They have acquired a huge amount of information and developed important skills. The ability to speak a specific language, read, understand images and follow narrations are achievements that are often taken for granted. They should not abandon the activities in which they have been successful. However, it is also important to point out that all human beings can gain much more than the current state of media literacy.

Perhaps the level of media literacy of some people is the same as when they were teenagers. Since then, their information base has grown significantly in some types of media messages such as popular songs, movies, television programs, computer games and websites.At the same time, people's information base in other fields such as how to produce and plan messages, media ownership, economy and media industry, and how to apply continuous media effects on the person and the lifestyle of the audience has not grown much. Therefore, people's current level of media literacy allows them to do many things with the media. However, if they develop their knowledge in other fields as well, they can gain more control and free themselves from media encounters as much as possible (Potter, 2011, pp. 17 and 18). to know they separate Managing a huge part of your life in the hands of the media means more than spending time and money, although both of these are significant. The media usually program people's media-facing habits. The way people look at the world by projecting their expectations of consumption, relationships, attractiveness, success, fame, health, newsworthy events, issues and solutions is planned by the media. At a relatively low level of media literacy, people know enough how to access media messages, but they are not able to protect themselves against significant and continuous media influences in the framework of shaping people's perception of life. The emotions of these people are aligned with this definition. Due to their continuous and effective presence in the creation and formation of new lifestyles, the media have concrete and virtual attractions that can not only satisfy people's social needs in a way, but beyond that, they can have a serious impact in building a new human being based on a type of collective thinking that is not rooted in a specific identity-oriented culture. Achieving a higher level of media literacy gives people the ability to gradually split media definitions, erase the code lines that the media has programmed in people's minds, and replace their views with media planning (Potter, 2011, pp. 17 and 18). What is the relationship between media literacy skills and lifestyle? Many definitions of lifestyle have been presented in the field of psychology and sociology, and the vast majority of them consider lifestyle to be a way of life and a complete reflection of social values, ways of dealing, activities and a combination of behavioral patterns and consumption habits of a person in life, which have come about following the process of socialization.

There is no general consensus among the owners of lifestyle indicators, but relying on the fact that some like Adler consider lifestyle to be a set of behaviors, it can be He found examples. In the meantime, Sobel believes that lifestyle indicators should be a tool and can be recognized and observed in society. Of course, other researchers also mention consumption, cultural consumption, and leisure activities as lifestyle indicators. Along with these indicators, we can also mention indicators such as body management, shopping patterns, naming children, family behavior, and food consumption patterns, which are emphasized by another group of sociologists.[1]

Many social, economic, political, and cultural factors affect lifestyle, among which the media, as one of the cultural variables, is considered to be one of the factors affecting lifestyle, and it is considered the most important indicator in changing lifestyle in the contemporary world. In the field of satellite and virtual space, when a person is in front of different satellite TVs and the variety of internet spaces, he unconsciously feels free to choose, but in fact, the person entered this field in a forced and managed way and is influenced by this space, that is, an invisible will lies behind the variety and taste of satellite networks and virtual space to attract the audience and create cultural changes. [2]

Statistics show that in 1374 in Tehran, one percent of People had satellites and used them, while in 2012 this amount reached 71%, which is a statistical jump that means the explosion of satellite usage.