Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Medium is the Message
I really thought this article was interesting. The article basiclaly explains how the medium of something is the message. This immdiately makes me think of the diferent ways we communicate and how even the simle choice of which medium to use says alot. For example, by chosing to text message, the medium suggests that I want to communicate quickly, or maybe it cn have a negative message like I dont really care to talk to this person face to face or over the phone so I will just text them. At the beginnign fo the article, McLuhan talks about electric light. He states that, "for it is not till the electric light is used to spell out some brand name that it is noticed as a medium,"(McLuhan, paragraph 4). I really liked how he explained how electric ight itself is the medium. We could be using other sources for light but we dont think of electricity, we think of PG&E, or Philips light bulbs. This artcile really made me more away of the different ways we choose to communicate and why. The examples that he used really helped clarify his ideas.
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Your example of using a text message to communicate as being the medium is absolutely fantastic! I think you really "got" what McLuhan was saying and you've explained it in a very accessible way (unlike McLuhan, haha).
ReplyDeleteI think we often get so wrapped up in getting a "content" message across that we overlook the message our medium is sending (like a text message telling the recipient that we don't care about them enough to make a phone call). Your response to the article makes me want to consider my own media choices. If the "content" message says one thing, but the medium's message contradicts it, communication probably won't be very effective!