I’m beginning to wonder whether our new communication technologies are actually too good for us to use properly; like taking your first driving lesson in a 4 litre highly tuned rear wheel drive sports car that you’re just bound to crash.

“The Medium is the Massage” was the title of a book by Marshall McLuhan, in which he said that any medium is, in a way, more important than the content in terms of how it affects it’s audience. He illustrates his point by talking about a lightbulb; which might not have any information or “content”, but it’s still a medium; it creates a space that would otherwise be empty, and it shapes how it is used. (The title actually arose from a misprint, but deciding that it was supportive of his point; after all, the title wouldn’t have been changed in such a way in an aural medium, or one without typography, so McLuhan let it stick.)

McLuhan’s point was that any information that a medium contains is secondary to the effect of the medium itself; in the case of the light bulb, as a light source in the darkness which creates a space. People can do whatever they want with that space, but whatever they choose to do with it won’t be as significant as the fact that the space exists in the first place.

Well, the medium of a “poke” on Facebook seems to be for human beings pretty much what a ‘ping’ is to IT nerds. (more…)

December 13th, 2007 | Communication, WWW | No comments