Television Audience Versus Internet User

Before the Internet, television was regarded as the most popular form of medium, with all major events being televised directly to the masses via their television screens. However due to the rise and enormous popularity of the internet some say its position is under threat.

There are a number of differences between the television audience and internet users the most important of them being how they interact with what they are consuming. Televsion is generally a very passive form of medium in which the audience has little to do with the production or opinions that the programme is trying to get across. In this way many see television as a hyperdermic needle, injecting the audience with thoughts and ideas whilst the televsion audiences own opinions are being ignored.

In comparison to this the internets most popular sites are generally user generated with sites such as Facebook and Youtube relying on the users to generate the content that is shown on the websites. This eliminates the passive nature of the audience and its gives the common internet user a voice in the product its consuming. This level of interaction was unheard of before the internet and could be a major reason for its rise to prominence as well as the reason for televisions decline.