Could MTV Reality Shows serve as Social Teaching Aides?

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Recently an MTV Reality Show called Jersey Shore came to my attention. After watching just two episodes of the series I came to a startling conclusion. Reality TV can serve as a boon for developing social skills. Exactly how I am not sure of yet but I will find out soon. If anybody else here thinks that this is a possibility please speak your peace on this matter.

A lot of these MTV programmes are exaggerations and dramatisations of reality, even if it is "reality" TV. There is still something extremely false in it that wouldn't be of much use in the real world at all. I wouldn't take social advice from an MTV reality show in a million years.

Taking social advice from Snooki is like taking marriage tips from Tiger Woods.

The word 'reality' in the term 'Reality TV' is ironic sarcasm, because there is absolutely NO REALITY TO IT. There's a camera and scripted scenarios and often even made-up character names, like 'Situation'. Its the most warped, perverted version of social interaction you could ever see. All you could learn from that is how to offend people and get yourself arrested. You'll learn more social skills if you go to the Zoo every day and spend eight hours staring into the monkey cages.

This made me laugh, and I completely agree with this.

Well I caught the first episode and the way they meet people is similar to the way most traditional college students meet people in dormitories. I'll be honest I'm looking for resources that will show me how to make friends and maneuver around all these little hot buttons most of these reactive baboons have built inside them.

I'm not looking to take advice from them, rather just an observational study of what they do and why they do what they do from a social interaction perspective.

i know nothing about it, the concept in itself made my brain hurt
all i know is from the jokes other shows make about IT..

They represent an extremely low brow demographic. I wouldn't use them as an example of normal social interaction. Asides the fact that they all aren't from Jersey and the Italian population of the US has voiced concerns with how stereotyped their behavior is. In the college I went to, Jersey Shore was incredibly popular, and a good proportion of the student body acted and dressed like them, and I can tell you, they are all completely obnoxious and having to go to school with them deeply offended me on so many levels. Jersey Shore is already being used as an example by these people and they are hardly model citizens. If anything, use it as a model for how not to act

I certainly hope not MTV and everything on it is pretty much worthless.

Several years ago, I happened to watch one season of Big Brother UK and came to the same conclusion.

If you think they're drama queens, try stepping out of you comfort zone and going out in the real world - that's what people are like. Not everyone, but it only takes one...

I think a TV show could be a safe way to observe the kind of people you usually avoid, but due to work, school etc. can't avoid anymore.

People on "reality" shows like that do NOT act normally. I've been in college for three years and my sisters live in dorms and I've been there quite a bit. If you look at the behaviors on shows like that and imitate any of them, you'll be ostracized by the vast majority even more so than you would for being AS. It's basically about as realistic as the way people act on soap operas. If you want to observe how people act and why, go to a common area at a college or high school (depending on your age) and watch real people. Please, please, please don't view reality TV shows, especially on MTV, as being anywhere near real. These people seem to deliberately act horribly simply because they're on TV. They're like little children acting out for attention and not realizing that the attention they're getting is negative. Think about how those people's families and g/f's or b/f's are going to think about them and feel when they see those shows. I imagine there are a lot of breakups over cheating and a lot of parents and siblings who are ashamed of them. That's not a good way to analyze human behavior.