The article illustrates McLuhan’s comprehensive theory of the media. He first demonstrates that the media is a carrier of message or content and these messages convey different idea and information in the context of cultural and historical background. These content may have no concrete meanings or may be other forms of media.
However, the content is not the only key point in the media. The different perceptions of the message also depend on the way we approach them and the way we use or dispose of them, which will gradually change the social formation and the function of people. The influences of the media may also contain psychological or moral consequences that will affect the whole civilization. For example, the inequity of education is partly changed among society since people can access all kinds of information from the Internet and the function of people turns to deal with information and data. The communication method between people changes to typing letters on the keyboard and sending images. Meanwhile, moral consequences may generate as people can keep anonymous on the internet, which will generate the behavior of cyber-bullying and cyber-violence, leading to serious moral consequences. The addiction to the virtual world will also harm the mental health of a person.
Therefore, an individual must be aware that any forms of media or technology are an outside addition which can’t add or eliminate any value of himself. We have to step back to grasp the overall situation or the influence of technology. The technology can only become an extension of our physical entity but cannot become part of us. More importantly, it may sometimes become a limitation of our views as the way we receive the information and use the technology are almost identical and under control. The information itself is also a form of media that may include some biased viewpoints. Hence, we have to be cautious with all forms of media, not only the message they carry but also their means of expression and dissemination.