Modern Communication Media And Their Role In Reshaping The Public’s Relationship With Mass Media: A Sociological Perspective

Abstract

This study aims to examine the role of modern communication media in reshaping the public’s relationship with mass media from a sociological perspective, in light of the profound transformations currently affecting media and communication, driven by developments in digital technology and the spread of social media platforms and networks. The study also seeks to determine how new communication media influence the formation of public opinions, perceptions, and interactions with media institutions. In addition, it highlights the sociology of audiences within the context of modern communication media use, which has generated a new journalistic form, citizen journalism, thereby transforming audience research strategies and the mechanisms through which audiences respond to communicative and media messages. Collectively, these developments have contributed to a shift from the question of what the media do to audiences to what audiences do with, and within, the media. In particular, audiences are no longer merely recipients in the communicative process; instead, they have moved from being passive consumers of messages and content to becoming producers and senders of communicative and media content through the internet and diverse digital communication platforms.