The Strengths And Shortcomings Of Medium Theory

With the advent of information technology, the ways different aspects of life work and operate have changed a great deal. Media has always had a great influence in molding the culture of a society. There was a point of time when television and radio were invented and when computer was invented and there was little connection between the two. Time then travelled fast then through the age of cassettes, records, VCDs, DVDs, flash drive and then the internet. Media also started to go satellite on a massive scale and there came a point of time when media and digital communication systems became closely integrated with one another, opening the dimensions to digital media.

Marshall McLuhan, who was a Canadian communication theorist, was very much interested in technology and how it shapes the advanced modern society. His very famous theory was “the medium is the message” which means that the resource used or mode through which they are presenting shows the message, not really the content. This theory then leads to how technology is seen as an extension to human senses. McLuhan stated, “Media have powerful effects on societies. Moreover, media become extensions of ourselves; extensions of our human senses” (Laughey, 2010, p. 33). Just like the way our eyes see, our nose smell, our skin feels and our other senses have their function, McLuhan emphasis the fact that technology is the extension of our psychological, social and intellectual (inner) senses. In relation to Television as a technology, McLuhan would agree that technology is an extension to our human sense due to the fact that in recent days it is something that is used everyday. Humans use

Marshall McLuhen published Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man in 1964. This writing served as the basis of Carr's ideas. Technology, as it is today, is changing our brains. The Shallows explores the debate over the powers and perils of modern technology.

When Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “the medium is the message” back in 1967, we were facing a very different society than we are today. His focus was of course on the mediums of the time: radio, newsprint and television. Mark Federman, a Chief Strategist for the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology asserts in his article, What is the Meaning of the Medium is the Message? (2004), McLuhan was not speaking directly about the medium itself. His thought process went to a deeper level. Federman “note[s] that it is not the content or use of innovation, but the change in inter-personal dynamics that the innovation brings with it” that is the issue. In a world that we can now access hundreds of thousands of bits of information in milliseconds, we can certainly see a shift in media influence. Today we can actually watch events as they unfold, whether they are events for a greater good or events of horrific acts of terrorism, technology has enabled society to be omnipresent. Melody Thompson (2011) refers to Jaron Lanier in discussing how technology shapes our relationship to itself. She notes that Lanier believes technology imposes on us its own viewpoint and that shapes our decisions. In a world where we live with a 24 hour news cycle and news stations that can skew their reporting to send the message they want their viewers to hear, it is quite prophetic when Lanier states “it

Marshall McLuhan’s phrase is meant to convey the fact that it’s the medium itself that is important, not what the medium may produce. Anyone may have a piece of print in their hands, and it doesn’t matter what they’re actually reading, the fact they have a piece of print is important. The evolution of technology has allowed multiple mediums of communication to br brought into the world. These various mediums of communication; newspapers, phones, radio, televisions, and computers, are so important for the world.

‘media’ through which thoughts, ideas, and feelings are represented in a culture” and argues that

The approaches that were proposed in Jones’s article include the following: mediums are plural, mediums affect meanings, mediation occurs beyond information acquisition, and we live in a culture of media engagement. These approaches could benefit the way the news informs citizens about what is going on in the world and what is happening in political elections.

“Some images [visual and multimedia] are so iconic that they become part of our cultural memory.” (Pg.326). Take, as an example, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video—an ingenious idea, a powerful visual argument that is spreading ALS awareness nationwide. For the past few weeks, social media have been shown videos of people pouring icy water on themselves for the ALS Association. If, before the video, the image of people throwing icy water on themselves was associated with summer games--or with the hot weather-- now the same image belongs to the ALS Association.

McLuhan’s claim that “The Medium is the Message” signifies that the approach of a transmitted message does matter. The reason as to why is that it affects how it is obtained by recipients which can manipulate their overall perception. This dominant form of communication also influences the substance in modifying how we interact and behave alongside our values and norms. These effects happen to stem from numerous definitions of media and its content for users such as hot (filled with information lacking in participation to think and active engagement furthering passive behavior) and cold (short of data requiring mental activity to be involved) media. Ultimately, this assertion pinpoints the role of media ecology in that mass media is the sole foundation of cultural life in society.

How we conceive mass media comes in different ways such as: television (24 -hour news channels,) (hoarders to fashion models,) (music videos, nature documentaries, and reality shows). With videos on demand

Godin first begins his blog by stating examples of how the media has been declining. He states that it is important to realize that our best-selling novels have been replaced by coloring books. Cable channels like TLC and the History Channel show populist, non-educational shows. Not only that, but even newspapers inform their audience with information they do not care to hear. This has resulted in the increase of general population not even purchasing newspapers. Seth Godin goes on to inform the reader that the decline of thoughtful media has been discussed for a century stating that the decrease is not anything new. The new information is, “A fundamental shift not just in the profit-seeking gatekeepers, but in the culture as a whole.” This shows the readers that Godin has done his research. It also shows that he is passionate about the lack of depth and complexity in our modern communications. The readers start to build trust in what he wrote because of his strong illustrations about the topic.

In the television profile “This is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Massage,” Allan Kaprow says “[McLuhan’s] talking about goggles…Everybody has a set of goggles… yours is a private idiosyncratic set of goggles and suppose that the generation before has a different set of goggles and you both think you are looking at the same thing and you are not” (12:12). This is an interesting point as it further complicates McLuhan’s arguments not only is the way a person receives information (the medium) going to impact (massage) the person, but the lenses or goggles the person has is going to impact the way the person is massaged by the medium as well. Perhaps it is the cumulative experience with the medium that plays a role in determining how the person perceives the message of the medium and how that message will impact upon them, as Postman’s son suggests in his introduction to his father’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death, in which Postman claims that current college students struggle to criticize modern technology and mediums because they grew up with them and thus influenced the formation of their

Marshall McLuhan famously said, “The medium is the message.” I don’t believe that the media of production is indistinguishable to the message because the content still exists as a separate entity to that of its form, however I agree to some extent with McLuhan’s proposed idea that the medium is of equal importance to the message being communicated.

No one can deny the fact that media is the most powerful tool of communication? Communication and interaction are the constitutive parts of everyday life. Our morning starts with the news that we get from morning newspaper, radio or television. Every generation the developer has a plan to improve media. In the modern world, people consider media as one of the most requirements that people can’t dispense from it. Media is everything, and the world seems to be nothing without it. It is difficult to imagine how people get to know some important news without newspapers, magazines, internet, and radio. Everybody a lot of methods helps him to collect the information. This paper is about defining types of media and their differences, defining the important role that media played, and determining the advantages of media.

Information and entertainment today are usually spread through the development of technology. Due to this, various medias enable us to give and receive information. Media can be divided into traditional media and new media (Christian, 2014). While it is easy to pinpoint the differences of the two medias, there are also some similarities that tie both medias together.