This study, conducted by Qihao Ji and Arthur Raney of Florida State University, looks closely at the intersection of popular culture, morality, and technology, making it an ideal subject for a student of communication through mass media. Ji and Raney posit that the practice of live-tweeting by viewers while simultaneously watching a television show like Downton Abbey will be tellingly revealing of the moral judgments of viewers. By systematically analyzing over 40,000 tweets posted during the season 3 finale episode of Downton Abbey, Ji and Raney demonstrate that viewers make consistent moral judgments largely concerning morally ambiguous or morally questionable actions by the characters of Downton Abbey, and less often, viewers praise what
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MFT proposes that the moral judgments of individuals are based on their intuition, while AFT explains how a viewer’s sense of morality impacts their enjoyment of mass media narratives. While limiting their definition of morality by only referring to Moral Foundation Theory certainly helped the authors conduct a manageable study, it also represents a limitation. Other theories oppose the idea that morality is intuitive; for instance, Social Expectations Theory proposes that morality, or rules for behavior, are often created and reinforced by portrayals in mass media (DeFleur 225). Social Expectation Theory may have offered a challenging perspective to this study, not only for its basis in research, but for its anecdotal evidence. Narrative portrayals of morality within mass media routinely impact viewers’ thoughts and actions, demonstrating that morality is more flexible and subject to outside influence than it is …show more content…
While this study does have weaknesses, it is equally important to acknowledge its unique strengths. Because the study of the intersection of social media and television is relatively new, it would be unreasonable to expect this study to be free of imperfections. One of study’s strengths is its simple acknowledgement of this growing and fascinating social phenomenon.
Overall, this study represents an important and relatively fresh direction for research. While its scope was limited, Ji and Raney’s work has broader implications. Revealing the morality of the viewers of Downton Abbey through a study like this one could help researchers develop further studies on why we choose to engage with various types of mass media over others. Ji and Raney have helped to foster a discussion and a body of research that could ultimately answer an important question: do we choose media that reinforces our morality, or is our morality influenced by the media we
MFT proposes that the moral judgments of individuals are based on their intuition, while AFT explains how a viewer’s sense of morality impacts their enjoyment of mass media narratives. While limiting their definition of morality by only referring to Moral Foundation Theory certainly helped the authors conduct a manageable study, it also represents a limitation. Other theories oppose the idea that morality is intuitive; for instance, Social Expectations Theory proposes that morality, or rules for behavior, are often created and reinforced by portrayals in mass media (DeFleur 225). Social Expectation Theory may have offered a challenging perspective to this study, not only for its basis in research, but for its anecdotal evidence. Narrative portrayals of morality within mass media routinely impact viewers’ thoughts and actions, demonstrating that morality is more flexible and subject to outside influence than it is …show more content…
While this study does have weaknesses, it is equally important to acknowledge its unique strengths. Because the study of the intersection of social media and television is relatively new, it would be unreasonable to expect this study to be free of imperfections. One of study’s strengths is its simple acknowledgement of this growing and fascinating social phenomenon.
Overall, this study represents an important and relatively fresh direction for research. While its scope was limited, Ji and Raney’s work has broader implications. Revealing the morality of the viewers of Downton Abbey through a study like this one could help researchers develop further studies on why we choose to engage with various types of mass media over others. Ji and Raney have helped to foster a discussion and a body of research that could ultimately answer an important question: do we choose media that reinforces our morality, or is our morality influenced by the media we