Reflection One: The Medium is the Message

In his 1964 book Understanding Media: The Extension of Man, Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan claimed that "the medium is the message". In essence McLuhan suggested that the medium that transports the message, rather than the message itself, that is important. Of course if there is no message there is nothing for the medium to transport, but it is the medium, particularly in regard to digital media, that allows a message to reach a wide audience and has the potential to mold how that message is received by its recipient(s). 

Furthering this idea, McLuhan posited that electronic media – such as television and radio – were "extensions of our central nervous system that are leading to an electrical retribalization of the West." In the 1960s growing access to television normalized an immediate visual medium, changing how people onboarded information that was previously primarily accessed via the audio medium of radio and how they interpreted it. The immediacy of television also broadly impacted audiences saw themselves, the world, and their place as an individual within that world. 

These impacts are mirrored today by the ever-burgeoning world of social media. Between Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat — and dozens of platforms of which I am far too old and digitally obsolete to be aware — anyone with a smartphone is not only a potential audience member, but also a potential producer (or prod-user) of media. 

In discussing printed media and the impact of  increased literacy McLuhan commented that "a literate man can stand back objectively and look at situations." Digital media require a whole new kind of literacy to achieve objectivity. Social media in particular engenders subjectivity — there is an inherit proclivity to compare and to respond to what we watch in a personal manner. This is encouraged by the “hey guys” narrative of influencers who speak directly to their audience, as if there is an actual conversation taking place, as well as the ability to comment on posts. That "content creator" has moved from a recreational past time to a job and "influencer" is an aspirational title are results of these new social media.

Across platforms there is far too much content being generated for it to be monitored and gatekept in any effective manner. Individuals must think critically about what they are watching, who is generating the content, how the their consumption of the content benefits the creator, and determine for themselves what constitutes the truth. This new media environment reflects McLuhan's book title — social media has itself become an extension of man, with lives being lived for an audience of strangers, and audiences risking a reduced capacity to to distinguish what is real, and what is construct. 

Check out this Animated Book Review for concise look at how digital media has influenced how we interact with information, and how content generation has impacted world events.