The Medium is the Message

McLuhan, M. (1964) The Medium is the Message. Understanding Media: The extension of Man.

New York: Signet

Marshall McLuhan, the father of communication and media studies and leading prophet of the information age. He discusses the medium of writing, audio and the electric media and their effects on individuals, cognition and society in one of his symbolic article- “ The medium is the message”. 

He describes medium is any extension of ourselves, which medium extends our thoughts from our mind to others, just like clothing is an extension of the skin, the wheel, an extension of the foot, the book; extension of the eye. He believes that modern media and technology are extensions of human senses, which extends our perception and sensibilities to the society, as the way they change in interpersonal dynamic and communication with the innovation of technology media.  

Speaking of the difference between the medium and the message, McLuhan identifies the light bulb as a clear demonstration of the idea of the medium is the message. He explains a light does not have any content, but it enables people to create space during the nighttime. He states “the content of a medium is like the juicy piece of meat carried by the burglar to distract the watchdog of the mind”, just like the light bulb creates environment for people just by its mere presence.

Hence, McLuhan argues that people largely miss structural changes and the essence of the medium, while they tend to focus on more obvious content with valuable information. In other words, McLuhan thinks content plays a dominant subordinate role where people are often get distracted by the content of the medium, which leads to making people less aware of the cultural changes and social issues when new technology becomes a new medium in our lives.

At the end, McLuhan emphasizes the nature of the medium itself has more significant influence and importance than the content of the medium. He describes the technique of invention in technological media has changed how people view the world and how these views are changed by the adoption of new technology.

This article is extremely important for CCT110 students because it emphasizes the influences and importance of the medium in this new media technology environment. It’s important for us to understand the correlation between the medium and message in order to communicate information more effectively and efficiency in this communication, digital and interactive environment.