McLuhan (1997) has stated in his book that the
medium has an effect on a particular message that it carries. In simpler words,
it is all about the medium that carries the message.The message may all be the
same however with different mediums used; the outcomes may vary very
tremendously.
A very good example is the battle for the presidency
of the United States of America between Nixon and Kennedy. The relay of
information through different mediums indeed has an effect on the people. It is
known to many that after the election on live television took place, Nixon
appeared unwell as he was recently hospitalized while Kennedy appeared very
well and calm. To those people who listened to the presidential debate on the
radio, they may have thought that Nixon had won but actually Kennedy did. Only
a minority listened to the radio at that time as in the 1960’s, more than 80%
of Americans has already owned a television. It was stated that more than 70
million viewers watched the presidential debate on television. (Webley 2012)
We can take the Harry Potter Book Series as
another example.
If the first book was not adapted to a movie, the book ratings
may not go as high as it was today and that actors like Daniel Radcliffe and
Rupert Grint will not become well known actors. Their current state may be even
be lot different now if the Harry Potter book series were never adapted to a
movie series. This can also be applied to other books that have been adapted to
movies such as the Twilight Saga or Lord of The Rings.
It
is obvious that the impact a medium has surely changes the outcome of a
particular message. The relay of information may be less effective with a
particular medium, however when the same information is transferred by using
another different medium, it may be more effective compared to the previous
medium. Such as the examples stated previously.
Another example is the ‘Internet’ as the medium.
It is
explained simply by Bodden (2006:6) as a computer network which joins the
entire computer all around the world together.
With the advancement in technology, information can be
transferred with just a click of a button in a very short period of time.
Almost all information can be digitized into the internet therefore making
information accessible from any place and time. With comparison with old
technologies such as telephones or even books, the transfer of information may
take a longer time especially when it needs to cover a large distance or even
be translated to a known language in a particular region.The internet offers features
such as high speed access and also tools that even translate information
according to the needs of the user.
I will focus my analysis on the social networking
sites within the internet such as Facebook© and Twitter©.
It is obvious that
majority of the people in the world sign in into any of these social networking
sites especially Facebook© almost every day. Facebook is more than just a social
networking site to make new friends and keeping in touch with old ones. It is
also an informal information source that even the relay of public news is also
available as well as ‘hot news’ direct from the source as people update their
status or their whereabouts and this may includes photo sharing as well. Even
news agencies such as CNN, Al Jazeera, and The Brunei Times are using social
networking sites such the two examples mentioned above as means of relaying information alongside their preferred
medium which is through the papers.
This can be related to McLuhan’s term “Global Village”
where he simply explains that the media connects everyone together. In the context of the modern world we live in now; information is only a finger click away or a touch of the screen away. (McLuhan 2001)
Griffin (2012) defined the term 'global village' as the 'worldwide electronic community where everyone knows everyone's business ad all are somewhat testy.' (p.317) It was explained that the media specifically the electronic media will bring or keep everyone in touch instantenously everywhere.
McLuhan coined this term in the 60s but this term is very relevant until now where everyone is connected through a digital line connection as we can see such as the internet where almost everyone is in constant information exchange with one another through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
The media being an extension of ourselves surely applies to us now in the modern world where it plays a important role in our lives especially when it comes to information exchange or information relaying to others.
McLuhan also stated concerning his theories on hot and cold medium (McLuhan 2001). Simply explained through the equation below;
Hot medium: high information load, low participation.
Cold medium: low information load, high participation.
McLuhan has stated before that the television was a cold medium during his time. However, now it is a hot medium as television are offering more variations of channels to watch which covers different aspects or subjects. It is possible to say that the television may soon replace encyclopaedias as information are transferred to the audiences more effectively compared to book encyclopaedias.
Personally, I find McLuhan's idea of the 'the medium is the message' very interesting as it is true that the medium does indeed affect the message that it carries. Different mediums have different level of effectiveness and that some are way too effective and covers a short area within a short time such as the internet. I would just like to mention on the the effects each medium has on those individuals who are receiving the message. For example the Harry Potter Book series, before it was adapted into a movie, the influence of Harry Potter may only be limited to an individual's imagination on how the world of wizardry looks like as described by the author of the books. When it was adapted into movies, it somehow triggers a boost in imagination and the wanting to be a part of the Harry Potter's world of wizardy. The movies gave fans of Harry Potter an insight on how the world of wizardy would look like in real life and how the characters are as well. It creates some kind of phenomenon that promotes a particular message where in this case 'the world of Harry Potter' where its popularity has increased and that people are seeing Harry Potter to be a figure they adored in their life. This is what McLuhan has realised and that his statement concerning how a medium affecting a message is true indeed.
References:
Bodden, V., (2006) Internet.
Mankato: Creative Education.
Griffin, E., (2012) A First Look At Communication Theory (8th Edition). New York.
McGraw Hill.
MacDonald, M., (2006) Empire
and communication: the media wars of Marshall McLuhan. Media,
Culture & Society; Jul 2006, Vol. 28 Issue 4, p505-520.
McLuhan, E., Zingrone, F., (1997) Essential
McLuhan. London: Routledge.
McLuhan, M., (2001) Understanding
Media: The Extensions of Man. London: Routledge.
Webley, K. (2012) TIME U.S.: How the
Nixon-Kennedy Debate Changed the World. Retrieved on February 19
2012 from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2021078,00.html
