The Medium is the Message

McLuhan defines a medium as "any extension of ourselves," which means by his definition a medium can range from a something like a hammer or bicycle to a radio or television or language. His claim that "the medium is the message" seems somewhat paradoxical, but what he means is that the characteristics of the medium itself effect changes that have nothing to do with the content. So the medium through which the content is received affects our perception of the content, and that is the "message" McLuhan refers to. For example, in today's society video has become the more widely used medium through which we obtain information. Instead of reading a book, most people will search for a tutorial on Youtube when they need instruction on how to do something. Newspapers are becoming less and less common--now the news is on TV and you can watch news clips on the Internet as well. The medium of video is the message in this situation because it says something about how our society has changed, and the content of the videos has nothing to do with the change. Also, our perception through the two mediums (print and video) is different for each because the experience of reading news is very different from the experience of watching/hearing news.

This video gives information about the increased use of new media/technology and their effects on our society. It's interesting how different mediums have helped connect the world and increased efficiency for businesses, etc., but it's also scary how much time we spend using electronics and how dependable we are upon them.