Mass Media and Its Effect on Teenage Socialization: A Study with Special Reference to Nanded City

Abstract

Mass media has become an important agent of socialization alongside family, school, peer groups and the wider community. This article examines the role of mass media in the socialization of teenagers, with special reference to Nanded city, Maharashtra. The source study discusses both traditional media—newspapers, radio and television—and newer digital media, including the internet and social networking platforms. It reports an exploratory research design using interviews, questionnaires and observation, supported by secondary literature. The described respondent groups comprise 50 teenagers (25 boys and 25 girls), 50 parents and 50 social workers. The reported findings indicate that teenagers use media for education, information, entertainment and communication, while parents and social workers also express concerns about excessive use, sleep, eating habits, exposure to inappropriate content and possible behavioural effects. For example, the source reports that 86% of teenagers had a Facebook account, 55.81% felt restless or stressed when unable to communicate with Facebook friends, 52% used media for study support at a reported level of 40–70%, and 64% watched television while eating. Among parents, 72% felt that media was overtaking some functions of socialization; 60% associated media use with reduced sleep. Among social workers, 94% believed media influenced teenagers and 96% supported the need for school social workers. These figures are presented as reported in the source and should be interpreted cautiously because the original document does not consistently provide denominators, complete tables or inferential tests. The article concludes that media effects are not uniformly positive or negative: they depend on content, duration, context, adult guidance and teenagers’ media literacy. It recommends family communication, school-based media education, counselling, awareness programmes and further methodologically transparent research.