-Canadian philosopher and media analyst
-predicted the world wide web 30 years before it was even invented
-after death, still continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles
-most well known work was understanding the media
-some theorists have attacked McLuhan’s work, calling it too simplistic
-“The Medium is the Massage” sold nearly 1 million copies world wide
-McLuhan adopted the phrase “massage” to denote the effect each medium has on the human sensorium
“Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate by the content of the communication” (p. 8: 1967)
Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher who proposed the theory called ‘the medium is the message’. The theory states that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study. He believes that the characteristics of the medium the message is passed through affects society, not the message itself. He used the phrase “We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us” to easily explain his theory.
| Production | Distribution | Consumption |
| – PC – Digital Camera – Photoshop – Audio Recorder – Recording Camera – Video editor – Word editor – | – email – social media – tv advert – print advert – billboard -newspaper – website | – phones -tv -pc – tablet -smart watch – billboard |
He was a Canadian philosopher who studied and taught English and several universities. His Theory was the idea that the message itself isn’t as important as it’s more the way how the message is given through the media form of technology or print which can influence how people perceive information and process it. He was born in 1911 and died in 1980.
Herbert Marshall McLuhan CC was a Canadian philosopher.
His work is one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, McLuhan studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge
“The medium is the message” was introduced in McLuhan`s book “Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man”, which was published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study.
McLuhan uses the term ‘message’ to signify content and character.
He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself.
Marshall Mcluhan published “The Media is the Massage” in 1964 which revolved around the idea that “the media is the message”. This means that the form the message is communicated in is more important than the message itself.
| PRODUCTION | DISTRIBUTION | CONSUMPTION |
| digital cameras | The internet | laptops/computers |
| digital audio recorders | Social Media | Phones |
| Microphone | IP | Televisions |
| DTP/Photoshop/Adobe | Broadcasts (satellite or terrestrial) | Youtube |
| Computers | Cinema | |
| Tablets (Drawing/Design) | Digital Billboards | |
Dunbar Number: The limit to the amount of friends you can have and people you can know and can have meaningful connections with. The Dunbar number is 150. (Robin Dunbar)
Feedback Loop theory states that a person has habits and interests, which can be found out and used by media companies to target and market media to consumers based on their interests and habits. This is more effective than targeting non-specific adverts or media at consumers as it is more likely to grab their attention. (Norbert Wiener)
Network Effect: Where a good or service increases as more people start to use that good or service. (Theodore Vail)
Who really benefits from a digitally networked society? Big business or individuals? refer to “Loop theory”and “The Dunbar Number”:
A digitally networked society is ultimately beneficial to large businesses and conglomerates because by employing Feedback Loop theory they can sell the behavior data of consumers to other companies who can use it to market media and products to individuals.
Key words associated with new media and teen vogue:
Circulate: To spread a product so more people will buy. – Teen Vogue circulates magazines online to enlarge their audience.
Active: With a large and dedicated audience who can also talk about teen vogue online.
Live: Teen vogue is a live media form because it is updated online and people can look at the articles on the website whenever they want.
| share | active | creative | host |
| story | re-connect | personalise | stream |
| experience | store | scale | immerse |
| interface | live | adapt | binge |
| conversation | re-perform | circulate | endless |
| Production | Distribution | Consumption |
| – PC – Digital camera – Design software – Web applications – Tablets – Data profiling – Word processor | – Social media – Print advert – TV advert |