marshall who?

Perhaps you have heard the phrase “the medium is the message”.
This phrase comes from a man who was responsible for changing the face of media.
His name? Marshall McLuhan.
Marshall McLuhan lived an interesting life, however in this blog I am not going to really talk about his life, but instead his thoughts and ideas. If you would like a biography of him, you can read one here.

Marshall McLuhan found much interest in media analysis. He focused on understanding the effects of technology and how it affects humans. He believed that people existed in a “global village”. He predicted a world filled with people who would spend their time worshipping the extravagent objects of their own creation. He even predicted the coming of the world wide web before it was even invented. During this time, McLuhan sounded like a crazy man to the people around him. The times were much different than they are now. However in today’s society, McLuhan’s thoughts and predictions make perfect sense. We live in a world that revolves around technology, almost as if it is a “god”that we all give praise to. McLuhan once said “We become what we behold”. How true is that statement? We all strive to be like the people we see on television or on the internet. Think of the number of people who want to be the next Victoria Secret model walking down the runway or the next Eminem taking over the stage or the next Michael Jordan tearing up the ball court. Think of the number of people who spend the majority of their day watching a television screen or staring at their laptop. The media has begun to take over society, just like McLuhan predicted it would.

McLuhan made points that held so much truth, yet no one wants to accept them. For example, McLuhan talked of “technological extensions”. This basically is something that “extends” society in a whole new way. However, McLuhan believed that people too commonly ignore the side effects, or “amputations”, of these extensions. An example of this given in the article “Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message” is this: we praise the advantage of high speed transportation by cars, but we do not want to be reminded of the awful amounts of pollution it causes. We have become exactly what McLuhan said we would become: a world who praises extensions, and ignores the amputations.

Throughout Marshall McLuhan’s life he wrote numerous books and made a major impact on education and media analysis. In the later years of his life, he came up with four thought provoking questions. He came up with these questions in order to challenge society to look at our culture differently. The four questions are:

1. What does the media extend?
2. What does the media make obsolete?
3. What is retrieved?
4. What does technology reverse into if it is overextended?

McLuhan was committed to letting the truth be shown. On his gravestone are the words “The Truth Shall Set You Free”.
We may not want to accept everything he said or the points he made, but no one can doubt that they are the truth.

So now I close this post with this thought, why should those in the communication field care about Marshall McLuhan? Why should what he said matter to us? The answer is this: Marshall McLuhan was dedicated to media analysis and shining the light on the sad truth of how society has become. It is important to understand his points, and to realize how major technology and media impact on the world really is. All of those in the communication field should be challenged to study this man’s life and thoughts, so we all in turn can have our eyes opened and help change the world around us.

article review uno.

When I went to choose an article to do a review on, it wasn’t hard for me to make a choice. Once immediately caught my attention. I chose an article entitled “5 Entertaining Twitter Streams to Improve Your Day”. The article lists certain Twitter accounts that are highly suggested to be followed in order to add a smile to your day. This article caught my attention because I have a twitter account and absolutely love this social network. While Facebook continues to be my number one social network, Twitter is a close second. I love being able to follow friends, but also to follow celebrities, motivational speakers, etc. During this unit in Survey of Professional Media, one of the first assignments was to create a twitter account and use it. Although I already had an account set up, I was excited that this was a class assignment.

The subject of Twitter relates well to the current unit we are learning in class because we recently discussed gate keepers vs gate jumpers in class. Twitter is an example of a gate jumper. A gate jumper is basically someone or something who sees the gate, and doesn’t care. Gate jumpers are first to get the word out about an event, which Twitter definitely does. To media professionals, Twitter is a big deal. It is important to have a Twitter account because you can share and read the most up to date news and it is a great way to promote businesses and ideas. Media professionals can learn about news and products while sharing news and products of their own. Some of the most common users of Twitter is probably members of Generation Y. It is a great way for those in Generation Y to connect with each other. Many people in generation y do not watch the news daily or read the newspaper, so Twitter is a great way for them to know what is going on in the world around them. It is also a great way for them to stay connected to people they meet in high school, college, etc.

Twitter changes the media landscape because it is a way for people to learn information sooner. No longer does anyone have to wait until the five o’clock news is on. Instead someone can follow a news channel and get updates throughout the day on what is going on. Something else that helps change the media landscape and a way to get news is through hashtags. When you put a # sign in front of a word, it turns it into a hashtag that can lead to a trending topic. When clicked on, tweets from people all around the world with that hashtag come up. For example, if you are watching an awards show and you missed one of the performances or awards given and you want to know what happened, you could type in the awards show and you would know all of the information. It’s the same way with movies and news. Twitter is a medium that has changed society, and I am interested to seeing what else comes about.

take over of media.

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that the amount of time young people spend with media has risen dramatically. The study showed that in today’s world an average 8-18 year old spends an average of 7 and a half hours using entertainment media daily. This adds up to around 53 hours per week. But if you consider all of the multi-tasking people do with the media (for example, watching television while surfing the internet) that number increases even more.

This study leads me to this question: is this generation safe?
Dramatically large amounts of medium are being poured into the minds of young people and taking over their every day lives.
This can affect their grades, behaviors, and every day social lives.
Entertainment media has become addicting. It has grown to become an obsession for young people all across the globe.

Honestly, it worries me a bit.
I try to keep a nice balance in my life. Yes I am involved in media every day, but I try to keep time in my day where the television and computer are turned off and I can focus on schoolwork or talking with friends.
We need to make sure young people are having that healthy balance.
If they don’t, the number of hours spent with entertainment media might grow even more, leading to something that cannot be good.

Want to read the report for yourself?
just click HERE