Marshall McLuhan

The… "The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium imbeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived, creating subtle change over time. The phrase was introduced in his most widely known book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that media themselves, not the content they carry, should be the focus of study; he said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but by the characteristics of the medium itself.

The Medium… He pointed to the light bulb as a clear demonstration of this concept. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during night time that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence.” Likewise, the message of a newscast about a heinous crime may be less the individual news story itself — the content — and more the change in public attitude towards crime that the newscast engenders by the fact that such crimes are in effect being brought into the home to watch over dinner.

The Medium is the… More controversially, he postulated that specific content might have little effect on society — in other words, it did not matter if television broadcasts children's shows or violent programming, to give one example — the effect of television on society would be identical, and profound. He noted that all media has characteristics that engage the viewer in different ways; for instance a passage in a book could be reread at will, but a movie had to be screened again in its entirety to study any individual part of it. So the medium through which a person encounters a particular piece of content would have an effect on the individual's understanding of it. McLuhan also claimed in Understanding Media that different media invites different degrees of participation on the part of a person who chooses to consume a medium.

The Medium is the Message! A movie is said by McLuhan to be "hot", intensifying one single sense "high definition", demanding a viewer's attention, and a comic book to be "cool" and "low definition", requiring much more conscious participation by the reader to extract value. This concentration on the medium itself, and how it conveys information — rather than on the specific content of the information — is the focal point of "the medium is the message".

The Global Village A Definition

Marshall McLuhan Marshall McLuhan's insights made the concept of a global village, interconnected by an electronic nervous system, part of our popular culture well before it actually happened.

Marshall McLuhan Marshall McLuhan was the first person to popularize the concept of a global village and to consider its social effects. His insights were revolutionary at the time, and fundamentally changed how everyone has thought about media, technology, and communications ever since. McLuhan chose the insightful phrase "global village" to highlight his observation that an electronic nervous system (the media) was rapidly integrating the planet -- events in one part of the world could be experienced from other parts in real-time, which is what human experience was like when we lived in small villages.

Marshall McLuhan on Global Village

Urban Dictionary Definition Global Village is seeing the world as a single community. The world is connected through the use of technology such as the internet. Examples include Skype, Face book and MySpace, Twitter and also dating web sites such as RSVP. This allows us to keep contact with people overseas quickly and efficiently. It also brings all social and political functions together quickly.

Example Guy one: I meet this hot chick! Guy two: Yea how? Guy one: On the net. Guy two: Well that’s a global village for you

Ways in which individuals and communities experience and live in a global context. Write a list of the ways you experience and live in a global context.

The positive and negative aspects of the global village Tolerance Acceptance Understanding Compassion Uncertain social expectations Isolation Control and manipulation

Right to privacy? Tyler Clementi, student outed as gay on internet, jumps to his death Gay student Tyler Clementi whose roommate allegedly streamed video of him having sex with a man killed himself the next day

The consequences of these on attitudes, values and beliefs Greater variety in food and cooking styles Greater access to cultural qualities ie music, art, philosophy, religion Cultural diversity Who really controls the media? Division of poverty and wealth Identity confusion/national identity

The different attitudes people may have towards technology and media within the global village

How and in what ways living in a global village may influence the ways we communicate, engage and interact Changing nature of communication Social interaction Knowledge acquisition

A World of Social Media A Day in the Life of Social Media (2:18mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iReY3W9ZkLU The World of Social Media 2011 (2:45mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU_GW_MD4hA Did You Know 4.0 (4:46mins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8

Your Questions Write a list of the ways you experience and live in a global context. Write 5 paragraph starters that define your idea of global village