Tip: How did television influence American culture and politics in the 1950s? The Beginning of Social Media Five years after the end of World War II, the 1950s brought an era of economic prosperity, changed some cultural norms, and provided people with quick and easy access to news, entertainment, and other things. However, the introduction of TV wasn't all that great. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, television programs, often funded by the government, spread propaganda about various political events. Television swept the nation during the 1950s, with the number of televisions increasing from one million in 1949 to fifty million in 1959, leading Senator John F. Kennedy to state that it “drastically altered nature of our political campaigns, conventions, voters, candidates and costs.” in 1959. It would end up influencing every American citizen alive to watch the program. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The arrival of television allowed the public instant access to information and news, the government began to spread propaganda about communism and cold war tensions to the public through these channels. Just like after World War I, the American government was afraid of communism spreading around the world; this caused the first red scare. After World War II, the former Red Scare was elevated to the point that people were literally afraid of the Russians, or as they were known at the time, the Soviets. America's fear of communism and the development of the atomic bomb is what started the Cold War with the USSR. Ever since the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Nagasaki, countries around the world saw what America could do to their enemies and began developing their own bombs. One country in particular has made Americans fear for their lives. Seeing this, some politicians exploited this fear by airing some propaganda commercials that would end up making kids hate the Russians/Soviet. In addition to targeting children to hate the Soviets, television helped create new cultural phenomena such as social media. and entertainment. Networks like NBS, CBS, and ABC were all started during this period. The 1950s saw the creation of iconic television sitcoms such as “I Love Lucy,” “The Honeymooners,” “The Adventures of Superman,” and the predecessor to all modern talk shows, “The Ed Sullivan Show.” With the invention of these shows, the way people approached daily life changed. Once upon a time, men worked in factories, women stayed at home, while the children were at school, then they all went home, had dinner, read a book/listened to a radio program, and went to bed. Thanks to television there was daytime and evening TV, or otherwise known as the TV that kids watched before going to bed/after returning home; the TV that dad watched late at night; and the TV that mom watched when she came home. AKA: cartoons, soap operas, news, latest shows and sitcoms for the whole family. Families spent their nights huddled together in front of the television instead of socializing, as they did before television arrived. It also led to the golden age of Hollywood. Being an actor/actress became a respectable profession and people started looking up to those stars. Famous people such as Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant, John Wayne and many others were all active during that time..