| Since the 90's of last century, the contemporary media has undergone a major change, traditional media began to transform from mass communication to demassification communication, with interactive new media have spread rise, this change enables the contemporary media and aesthetical taste create a new model of interaction, the most important result of the change is that it contributes to the differentiation of taste and forms new taste groups, which is different from the previous groups. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship between media and taste in the interactive and demassification communication period, and reveal the formation mechanism, characteristics and trends of taste groups. Through the study of group differentiation and the content evolution of Chinese contemporary culture, to study changes in morphology and trend of evolution on contemporary aesthetic cultural from a special perspective, so as to promote chinese contemporary aesthetic culture healthy and orderly development.In this paper, drawing on previous research achievement,I analyze the problem with objective academic attitude in the specific social and cultural background based on the neutral academic value point, explore the relationship between media and taste groups, and evaluate their value and significance in the unique historical and cultural backgrounds. In this sense, this paper adopts a "context-oriented" approach. In the specific research strategy, the paper references to Western scholars'theory,such as Giddens's self-identity theory, Foucault's "discourse" theory, Bourdieu's "taste distinction" and so on, so that the problem can be cared more comprehensively. Besides, this paper takes the combination of overall and single case analysis, attempts to reach the balance between form and content, theory and history.Since the 1990s, a new social class structure was evolved in mainland of China, class identity and distinction became more clearly. Because some stratums of society are new emerging classes, they can't learn from history resources, and haven't a stable habit support. The media has been their choice to get cultural symbols to construct the social status. At the same time, transmission mode of China's media has been updated because of the technology development, market competition and the spread of new concepts, from "mass communication" to " demassification communication ", breaking the mode of communication authoritarian style of "one to many", and establishing a more equal" many to many ". This embodies modern concept that respect for individuality, pay attention to diversity, seek an interaction. Reflecting and meeting the different tastes of different audiences became the core of the media philosophy.Demassification communication of the media forms a new mechanism and characteristic to lead and shape the taste groups. They unanimously adopted a strategy of audience positioning, locking their target audience groups, to set the taste level, and construct the corresponding taste culture. In the implementation of this strategy, class became an important criterion for the audience targeted. On the one hand, the media reflects the tastes demand of different social classes, satisfying people's aesthetic demand in the social structure transformation that people want to be difference but expect to the polymerization. The other hand, the media affects the reality social class through the cultural symbols, such as name, specifications, providing idols or samples, reproduction and even shaping the different levels of taste.Compared with taste group in other phases of history, modern media forms taste group with the consumer, fashion and democratic characteristics. The consumption of symbolic represents their tastes, and they follow the laws of fashion to replace theirs symbolic symbols. Different taste groups are marked with class labels, but they are not insurmountable boundaries. Group members are free to choose their own identity attribution, and different groups are also possible to become taste leader. These characteristics are decided by the nature of the commercialization.In a macro view, there are three taste group types based on aesthetic paradigm and the different symbols, which are the middle, the lower and the upper class. Upper taste group is consisted of some people who are high-spending, highly educated, and have high income.Particularly high consumption is its main feature. Middle taste group is composed of so-called petty bourgeoisie, the middle class, and the white-collar and so on. The lower taste group is consisted of some people who have few cultural, economic, organizational resources. These taste groups are assumed by the media, and finally they become a reality under the influence of the media. The media audience survey confirms the effectiveness of taste transmission in a certain extent. Of course, audience survey also showed that some members' status of the group in the reality are not consistent with the assumption totally, in other words, some people of upper class like the lower taste culture, but some people of lower class like the upper taste culture, but this cannot deny the existence of taste groups. Because we are here is to define taste groups from the consistency of taste, rather than from the same group or class to define the taste groups, hierarchical taste groups is just indicated taste groups and social classes in general relevance. In other words, as a main acceptance part and logical extension of classes taste culture, hierarchical taste groups is still valid.In modern media, magazines, newspapers, television and the internet are four important modes, which exhibit the same tendency of stratification position in shaping the taste group, however, while there are difference in the presentation, perception approach and content structures. Among them, magazine as an individual payment media is in the current demassification communication in a high degree and particularly plays a prominent role to create middle and upper taste group. Newspapers are more popular medium, but under the influence of mode of demassification communication, newspapers of the streets, reading by white-collar workers and high end became different. TV shapes the taste groups through channel and programs. Internet with interactive, transient, private and invisible nature creates a new generation model of taste group, named "polymerization" mode, breaking the traditional media oppressive nature.The emergence of taste groups means the awakening of aesthetic consciousness for normal individuals. People began to consciously pursuit differentiation of aesthetic taste, and apply the aesthetic taste in practice in all aspects of life. As taste groups becoming smaller, compared with identity and sense of belonging, personalization and differentiation becomes more and more important for people's aesthetic pursuit. The development of taste culture broke the mass culture, elite culture, folk culture, the dominant culture based aesthetic cultural patterns, updated the type of aesthetic culture, enriched the aesthetic culture.On the one hand, the media contributed to the taste group. On the other hand,the media is also limit taste group. As ideology, the cultural symbols created by the media are selective. The media prefer to avoid political or avant-garde cultural symbols based on getting profit and avoiding loss of the instinct. Besides, because of its commercial operation, the logic of consumerism dominates its production and communication ideas. It often tends to choose symbols with consumption characteristics, so cultural symbols of aesthetic taste which the people in order to construct is already filtered, and in fact, the construction acts just have the freedom to choice. The media not only played the role of supplier of cultural symbols, but also played a role of controller. Media as a physical carrier of information makes some people's taste show, but others not. Although some taste groups are generated by the media, some real taste groups gradually disappeared in people's field of vision which cannot showed through the media's expression, writing, recording, preservation, advocacy. As a social individual, we need to enhance the ability of self-reflection and taste level, to see through all kinds of tricks and ideological discourse strategies of media in order to build the taste mode that belongs to self-confident and close to our mind.This paper agree the view putted forward by some scholars that there will be no high level and low level cultural taste in post-industrial society. It has no relation with social classes, and they are different segments because of different taste.As technology, economic, and people's cultural qualities development, becoming a real taste class is current trend, and this trend is seen in under the influence of network representing the new media. The taste groups are generated through conscious polymerization that are free from the shackles of social identity and based on purely aesthetic taste..Thesis think that the modern media has been deeply involved in Chinese current social and cultural activities, and even change the deep structure of society, people's lifestyle and individual modes of self-imagination. In an era of media context, people's aesthetic taste has meaning in the content, the performance of the formation, structure, function and other aspects of the value shown characteristics different from the past. To make a more taste groups of healthy development, contributing to a good media environment has become a very important thing. This work led to media practitioners, in fact, has become the responsibility of individuals in all societies. Only when each individual of a society in the enjoyment of a variety of cultural entertainment information that modern media offer while can come out of intervention into public spaces and search cultural activities free, the healthy development of culture and individual spirit of freedom is possible to achieve better.In this paper, there is both theoretical and practical significance value. From the theoretical point, this paper seeks to establish and advance a research methods named "context", which is to put object to its specific historical time and space, and examine the internal structure of the object and exist meaning and value of properties comprehensively and objectively in related net which is composed by political, economic, cultural and social factors.So, you can get rid of the essentialism tendencies and dualism thinking of the Frankfurt School and the Birmingham School in the media and taste study, avoid the media interpreted as a struggle space between pure ideological and power, and face to the diversity of people's culture needs and complex relations within the media power. At the practical value point, this paper not only reveals the relation of multi-directional interactions which is both cooperation and conflict between the contemporary media and the aesthetic taste so as to provide better the reference system to evaluate contemporary media culture and the media. Besides, individuals can be alert to the potential controlling factor of the modern media, avoid the power and commercial traps from the capture, and shape the final mold suitable aesthetic taste which is fit for the growth of human freedom.In the same time, this paper is try to make responsibilities and obligations clear for the public power, media workers, and ordinary individuals in society through revealing the relationship between the media and taste groups based on whole healthy development of culture.
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