The rise of media in our society has many effects on media consumers. Many people ask themselves the question: are these media making us dumber? Today, there are many more forms of media available to people. Thanks to the media of television and news, the Internet, user-generated content, and social media, people have many options for where they receive their media. Overall, the media is dumbing down society, striving to keep up with the changing times and reach large masses of people. It is up to the media consumer to decide what type of media they want to participate in. How can media compete in such an environment? The only way to compete is to go for it. Become him and help him. New forms of mass media are appearing, will appear and will not stop because we are an ever-changing society. The media is trying to put a new spin on media by combining older media techniques with a new, more advanced form of media that attempts to reach all of society. While they are effective in reaching massive crowds of viewers and people who may have never engaged with issues, they dumb down society by limiting the comprehensiveness of the information presented. Dumbing down is generally used as a derogatory term that refers to the simplification of a subject toward the lowest common denominator. Americans consume large amounts of media. The average American spends half of their day watching television or listening to some sort of mass media. According to Shachtman, author of The Inarticulate Society: Eloquence and Culture in America, "most Americans watch thirty hours of television per week, or 1,550 hours per year, listen to the radio 1,160 hours per year, spend 180 hours per year read texts. part of a new...... middle of paper ......al_media_stats_kagan_fisch_mcleodCarr, N. (2008, July - August). Is Google making us stupid? The Atlantic, 1. Retrieved February 14, 2012, from http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/Shachtman, T. (1995). After-school educators. The inarticulate society: eloquence and culture in America (pp. 95-142). New York: Free Press. Sommerville, C.J. (1999). How the news makes us stupid: the death of wisdom in an information society. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Wolf, M. (2007). Proust and the squid, the history and science of the reading brain. New York, NY: HarperCollins. YDSTIE, J. (June 16, 2007). Does the Internet undermine culture? : NPR. NPR: National Public Radio: News & Analysis, World, USA, Music & Arts: NPR. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11131872