Hegemony: The growing power of the Media

Jinpeng Wang

Beifang Zhou

Zhao Zhou

  1. Economic

There is no denying that social media companies have more economic development and expression on the web. Media companies are able to gain more users through a wider range of promotional means, and they have more advertising profits. It is important to realize that the large number of users is a myriad of data, and that media companies have the ability to use algorithms to influence the interests of each individual and deliver their own advertisements with precision. Social media revenues have exceeded $25 billion in 2022 (Statista Research Department, 2023).

2. Culture

In 1947, Western Marxist pioneer Antonio Gram-sci first used the term “hegemony” to describe the relations of domination between classes in society in his book “Selections from Prison Notebooks.
Cultural hegemony can produce deeper and broader influences and effects with the help of the media. Media order is an extension of political order, and the media has always been used by certain countries to serve political goals. Traditional news media, represented by radio, newspapers and television, played an important role in the early means of implementing cultural hegemony. After the advent of the era of online media, the technical characteristics and communication characteristics of the network have given a new look to cultural hegemony.Gramsci, A., Hoare, Q., & Nowell-Smith, G. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. Lawrence & Wishart.

3. Politics

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube play an important role in the dissemination of political information. These platforms have been accused of filtering, manipulating, or restricting the spread of specific political views, thereby influencing public political perceptions and political debate.(Julia, 2021)

Reference list

Gramsci, A., Hoare, Q., & Nowell-Smith, G. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks. Lawrence & Wishart.

Guardian News and Media. (2021, April 12). Revealed: The Facebook loophole that lets world leaders deceive and harass their citizens. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/12/facebook-loophole-state-backed-manipulation

Statista Research Department. (2023). Social media advertising spending worldwide from 2021 to 2028. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271406/advertising-revenue-of-social-networks-worldwide/#:~:text=Social%20media%20ad%20spend%20worldwide%202021%2D2028&text=In%202021%2C%20global%20social%20media,of%20262%20billion%20by%202028.