Status Conferral Function: The role that mass media gives to a person, group of people, or event that makes these things seem significant or important. Whether justified or not.

Status Conferral Function is a term created by Lazarsfeld and Merton when explaining the functions and the power that mass media has in our society. They have the ability to force so much information from anywhere, at any given time, about any topic; that they can make this topic seem like the most pressing matter to date. This can be for a number of reasons; will it get a station the most views? Will it give us the opportunity to make money? Will it attention from a more pressing issue or topic? Along with a handful of other reasons.

Without even noticing it, us as a society, fall under the assumption that just because we see this person, or read about this event that took place, that it is of the utmost significance, just because of the amount at which we see it. It is happening all the time all around us. Subtle mentions of a person or seeing their face in a commercial make us think that the person is “worth” the mentions and that they are actually worth the attention,  just because we are seeing their face or hearing their voice constantly. With the new improvements to technology and the advances in communication, it is happening more frequently.

The perfect example for me to try and explain this theory is none other than Kim Kardashian-West

While being one of the most prominent figures in not only our country but the entire world, no one really knows why she got (and still is) famous. Kim Kardashian has not really done anything to mark her place as one of the most famous people to date, yet, here she is staking her claim as one of the most powerful women in the country. As of 2014, Kim Kardashian had over 23 endorsements from major companies all around the world. Meaning she was getting paid to have her face appear alongside a product or service. In doing that, us as a society are doing two things. 1) We see this product along with Kim’s face and think “if she’s promoting it, it must be good” giving the company more credibility. 2) we see her face all over the TV and Internet in doing these endorsements and automatically assume she it still relevant because we see her all over media. While you can’t deny that since being in the spotlight, Kim Kardashian has made the most of it to maximize her own wealth (her own app, her own company) but, the question lies in “how is Kim Kardashian-West famous” and when you get down to it there really is no good legitimate answer. But because we see her all over the news getting “robbed” or all over Instagram and Twitter we still associate her with prominence and celebrity status. Even if we are doing it subconsciously.