In his article, “The Medium is the Message,” Marshall McLuhan argues that, “The effects of technology do not occur at the level of opinions or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance” (159). This sentence struck me as significant because of the enormous role technology plays in our day-to-day lives. While the content each person sees on their smart phone or computer on a day-to-day basis is likely different, technology, as a medium itself, has altered the habits and perceptions of all of us. I myself have noted the role technology has played in my life and how it has changed how I interact with the world. Before getting a smart phone in my Junior year of high school, I was much more likely to focus on talking to people in person, and would often get my news by talking to adults around me. However, since obtaining a smartphone, I rely on it for my informational, communication, and entertainment needs. While the content was the same before and after my purchase of a smartphone, the medium changed, which in itself altered my perceptions and habits. This shows clearly how often, a medium itself is the message, and the content itself is not always as significant as the medium in terms of the effect on our lives.
Overall, I found “the medium is the message” argument to be quite convincing. While content of a medium is often touted as the “message,” we often ignore the medium as the message itself and the effects different mediums mediums have no our lives and culture. In our technology-driven age with constantly changing and evolving mediums, this “medium is the message” theory is one we as individuals and as a society should keep in mind in order to monitor the effects the medium’s message has on our lives and society.