Is the message irrelevant?
For those who are unfamiliar with Marshall Luhan’s technological determinism, the two-word phrase focuses on the media form in which a message is delivered rather than putting importance on the actual content of the message. Most mass communication theories focus on the receiver of that message, the sender, or perhaps the message itself. However, Marshall Luhan’s presents quite an interesting way of looking at mass communication while focusing on the distribution method of the message and essentially saying that “the medium is the message.” Interestingly enough, Scott McLemme, an intellectual affairs columnist for Inside Higher Ed, mentioned that this can be translated to “communication systems create consciousness” (McLemme, 2020). Something about the way media is presented holds power, and Marshall Luhan argues this perspective.
To begin, McLuhan argues that the main way in which society communicates will affect social interactions. It is very evident that our world is being greatly impacted with technology and the way in which we communicate with one another has changed, facilitating the way we connect with peers who aren’t necessarily in close proximity to us. This is very much true because even though we are trying to communicate through technology with one another, the length at which it is done has changed. The article, Brave New World of Digital Intimacy, mentioned that people have a tendency of describing their day to day activities online, so individuals see shortened versions of what their peers are doing.
Secondly, McLuhan also mentioned that the way in which we capture information has changed because of the outlets that have been introduced to feed us information. For example, back in the day, individuals were more auditory receivers because they only had word of mouth to receive messages. As prints started getting introduced to the media, individuals have become more visual. With technology advancing so quickly, we have prioritized visuals due to television and computer monitors being so new. We are prioritizing the visuals because they are being more apparent of appearing on screen.
Lastly, technology has been allowing us to communicate in real time sort of like individuals would do back in the day. This is an interesting polar opposite concept because even though back in the day we pretty much had to receive information in real time because we did not have technology to rely on gathering information when we wanted to, the sequence of events was presented to us in order. However, due to technology being so accessible, we can continue to communicate in real time, such as sending a text or sending a tweet. We no longer have to wait for a letter to be sent in the mail. Notice how McLuhan is focusing on the way in which these messages are being sent, rather than what the message contains and how that affects society.
Though McLuhan had many strong ideas that make sense, his work is highly criticized for the same reason that he leaves out the content of the message and only focuses on the medium that is being used to send that message. For example, choosing to watch TV over reading a magazine somehow brings a lot of importance to McLuhan because it has shaped and molded society. However, if the same message was sent across both platforms, wouldn’t that make his point invalid? This is where the importance of the message takes place.
Moreover, McLuhan has claimed that these mediums in which messages are being sent can somehow unify society. This can be true to a certain extent, but what McLuhan has failed to do was acknowledge the individuality of the receivers of the messages. Things like age, gender, culture, and class all seemed to be overlooked and the medium in which the message is being sent across is only prioritized.
Due to the fact that McLuhan has only focused on the method in which messages are sent, the sender is also being overlooked. Who is in charge of sending these messages? Do larger corporations influence the way society is being shaped? These are all questions that are important in the way our society is developing.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/magazine/07awareness-t.html
