Response to Marshall McLuhan – Taylah Bland

I was very intrigued with McLuhan’s article “The Medium Is The Message” as it gave me a unique insight into the way in which we view technology. Quite often we focus on what the internet provides us and the content we receive without really paying attention to medium of delivery. The medium “shapes and controls the scale and form of the human association and action” (152) we often underestimate the power of the medium and the responsibility that comes with it. 

The medium in itself can create unity and divisiveness if exercised in an incorrect way. The example was given of a contrast between America and England. The English rejecting typography for the oral tradition of common law, yet America prided themselves on their use of typography due to its conformist and unifying nature. This made me think that the medium has the capacity to completely distort and change the intended meaning. If one was to write down oral traditions, they may be interpreted completely differently than if they were expressed in an oral way. 

We have a lot of responsibility with the way in which we interact with the medium of our content. We have the potential to reach far reaching audiences and as such the medium that is selected should have as much thought put into it as the thought that goes into the content of the message. 

As McLuhan states “the media is also a powerful weapon with which to clobber other media and other groups” (161). The negatively connoted diction of “clobber” insinuates destruction and is the reality of what happens when both the medium and content that are created are used in a damaging way. We don’t have to look too far on social media sites to see some of the “trolling” and “spam” that floods sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These are examples of using such a powerful medium for the wrong reason. 

After reading the article, I agree with Psychologist C. G. Jung that “no one can shield himself from such an influence” (161). What we need to work on is the way in which we use the medium to maximize the value of our content. One in which we use that methodology for good, rather than for degradation. 

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