The world of entertainment: How does television actually influence us? In today's society, it would seem that television has become almost a norm or a way of life compared to postmodernist views on entertainment. Almost everyone has it, watches it, and, more importantly, has been influenced in some way by the effects of these moving images that become increasingly present in popular culture. Some define it as useless, others as stimulating, but how does television actually affect those who live a contemporary lifestyle compared to more traditional forms or culture? Simple entertainment or simulation content could end up turning into a massive influence in mass cultural behaviors, taking our emotions on a roller coaster of A study completed by Karin Raeymaeckers, a university lecture in the Department of Switching stated that “the use of media or television by people seen by individuals aged 16 to 18 were more likely to replace these forms of entertainment with learning or reading time”. media is very present in everyday life, just because emotions can be evoked does not mean that everyone will copy the exact actions that are shown. People may say that sometimes they want to "kill someone", but these words are usually used in the social jargon rather than actual meaning. Good example of this is Goffman's self-presentation theory. This theory tells us that when people act in different ways they wear “masks” to feel accepted or even engage in certain social activities to avoid embarrassment. These masks are mostly complete personality covers and while people like to change their persona or act like someone else after watching these media sources, one factor that makes a big difference in how someone reacts depends on the culture in which they is found. This is more easily known as finding your “social identity”. Social identity theory tells us that people like to find comfort in the things they feel most comfortable with. There are a variety of things that influence this, such as social groups, family or friends, but this influence is not always negative. Social identity develops in various ways and if television helps a person discover who they are in a positive way, it should not be discussed in that situation. Everyone is different precisely because a person feels more comfortable finding their social identity within their own social group; another can in a completely different manor.