McLuhan's Theory - The Medium is the message.

 

"The medium is the message". Marshall McLuhan's theory.

Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian philosopher, stated the importance of the message lies within the medium rather than the message itself. He believed the content displayed through a communicative medium was almost a "distraction" from the underlying message itself. Furthermore, he also notes the consequences from these messages through numerous mediums were highly important in relation to the world, socially and economically. 

In a world of rapidly changing technology, I believe this theory is applicable. Socially, this is important, because context means everything. The current world of digital media allows us to now create and publish with more mediums than ever. With this in mind, it also allows any type of information to have open access to the population without being sourced, fact-checked, protected or cited properly. I assume this is what McLuhan was referring to when he mentions “consequences”. From a time when there was more time, money, and education needed to publish a book, for example, the medium of the content meant more. Even though this theory originates from the 60s, it has evidently stayed relevant today.

 

The context for media can create a narrative, a back-story, a message, or a deeper understanding. The medium of communicating change the way we perceive and act. The medium itself is not what we perceive, it’s how we perceive it and why.