Hypodermic needle
theory is also known as the Magic bullet theory it was originated in
1920s after seeing the effects of media broadcast during World War 1. The
theory suggests that through media any message can be injected to the mass in
order to create a certain response.
The interpretation of
information may differ among people and each individual may have a unique set
of psychology but the media presents data in such a systematic way which
influences people from an individual to societies. For example, people tend to
adopt behavior from media due to its psychological importance, personal
interest or motivation which maybe the same for a large group of people.
(Bryant and Thompson, 2002)
People subconsciously
believe that mass media is the only source of trust through which accurate
information come from. Media builds up trust by giving accurate information to
its viewers repeatedly and by doing so people begin to have faith on the media.
Once the media has control over the mass it starts publishing the information
most likely people want to hear. This methodology functions in all times.
Modern media uses psychological techniques to persuade people into believing
its information. It gives you the information that wants you to believe. For
example, if a group of people are in a conflict with another society, media
will try to give each one of them as much information as they need to know
about the other respective party which seemingly benefits both parties and is
profitable for the media as well while in fact it worsens the condition between
the two groups. Hypodermic needle theory will still be much effective
where media exists.
The development of
technology has a great impact on media, as technology developed more sources of
information were created which effected the Hypodermic needle theory as
well. For instance, in the past the Hypodermic needle
theory functioned more effectively due to limited resources like radios
and newspapers which are not in fact the only assets available nowadays. Beside
more resources people have even access to research materials in the form of
articles, blogs, journals and apps. Whenever a person mistrusts an information
he can easily use the research materials available to him in order to find its
accuracy. Hence, public access to such resource have proven costly to the Magic
bullet theory and the theory is not applicable enough to provide solid
conclusions. Further development may even void this theory.
Magic bullet theory
helped in the development of understanding communication through mass media but
in the current era, this theory has a lot of limitations and does not keep up
with the upcoming changes. A lot of other theories have been
introduced since 1920s and Hypodermic needle theory has been
successfully replaced by many other complex theories. It may be true that
certain points of this theory may still be functional but with a set of
assumptions. (Communication Studies, 2016)
References:
Communication Studies.
(2016). Hypodermic Needle Theory. [online] Available at:
http://www.communicationstudies.com/communication-theories/hypodermic-needle-theory
[Accessed 23 Dec. 2016].
Bryant,
J. and Thompson, S. (2002). Fundamentals of media effects. 1st ed.
Boston, Mass.: McGraw-Hill.
