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Lesson 2

McLuhan believed that technology drives changes in society and culture. As new media forms emerge, they are influenced by older forms but provide new interactive experiences. McLuhan categorized media as either "hot" with passive audiences or "cool" with more involvement. Key technological milestones like printing and telegraph linked different eras. While McLuhan saw technology as determining social change, others believe culture shapes technology to meet societal needs. Traditional media are one-directional while new media are interactive and integrate all senses.

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169 views3 pages

Lesson 2

McLuhan believed that technology drives changes in society and culture. As new media forms emerge, they are influenced by older forms but provide new interactive experiences. McLuhan categorized media as either "hot" with passive audiences or "cool" with more involvement. Key technological milestones like printing and telegraph linked different eras. While McLuhan saw technology as determining social change, others believe culture shapes technology to meet societal needs. Traditional media are one-directional while new media are interactive and integrate all senses.

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Mark Russell Mangubat
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MIL LESSON 2: THE EVOLUTION OF TRADITIONAL TO NEW MEDIA

The McLuhan Mantra


Marshall McLuhan, who is famous for the phrase “the medium is the message” and is
the proponent of the media theory on technological determinism, believed that society
is driven by changes in media and communication technology. McLuhan (2007)
explained that society adapts to advances in technology, thus, changing cultural,
political, and even historical aspects of the society.

The only thing constant and inevitable is change. Thus, some look at technology as an
indication of progress. Social change i typically associate with technological
advancement. As technology stabilizes, users and consumers adapt their behavior to the
features and perceived benefits of this technology, oftentimes making people overly
reliant to technology.

An illustration of the evolution of media as perceived by McLuhan (1962)

A media form that emerges from an older form has its features and format primarily
patterned from the one that it followed. The Internet is not exactly an original concept
but rather a hybrid or derivative of the older forms such as print media, broadcast
media and film. The mobile phones are built in the old idea of telephony, and smart
phones and tablets, on the idea of Internet and computer technology.

HOT AND COLD MEDIA?


HOT media refers to forms requiring little involvement from the audience and examples
include film and television. They are hot because, metaphorically speaking, they cannot
be “touched” and thus the experience is relatively passive and static.
COOL media are those with high-level user interactivity, where the experience is more
dynamic and audience is more involved. For example, media forms that utilize
animation, such as video games, or provide participation, like online media platforms.

McLuhan`s Media Map of History

Milestones in Media Evolution


For McLuhan (1962), the three most significant inventions in communication would be
the phonetic alphabet, the printing press, and the telegraph. Each of them linked one
period to another.
TRIBAL AGE
Hearing was predominant and most valuable sense of reception. Early human ancestors
relied heavily on their sense of hearing to hunt for food and to stay alert from danger.
LITERACY AGE
The sense of sight was dominant. This is because of the invention of the alphabt,
allowing humans to learn to read.
PRINT AGE
The printing press was invented during this time, which meant mass-producing written
texts. Having more copies if these texts gave humans the liberty to read them at their
own pace and to share them to others. With a growing number of produced and
reproduced reading materials came the inevitable--- the building of libraries and other
repositories.
ELECTRONIC AGE
McLuhan`s idea of the “global village,” A community where everyone in the world is
interconnected through media, was evident in this era.

The telegraph was invented which paved the way to the invention of more recent
technologies such as the telephone, television, mobile phones, and the Internet. The
communication technology at this time led humans to instantly connect to each other
even in great distances.

The electronic age is the age of sound and tactile sense of reception. An example would
be the incorporation of touch screens in smart phones, tablets, and laptop computer
these days.

In addition to the media map of history are two other time periods not covered in
McLuhan`s periodization. One is information age and the other is infrastructure age.

INFORMATION AGE
Information age is when the world entered into a new era of media experience in the
21st century. Also known as the digital or new media age, this is a time in human history
where everything relied heavily in the use of omputers to run major industries.
Information was utilized based on personalized needs and motivations. Global
communication and networking were enhanced.
INFRASTUCTURE AGE
Digital technology and Internet become pervasive, thus, pushing the world to enter the
infrastructure age. A car with global positioning system built with it, a railway system
which runs digitally, or even simple appliances or gadgets at home tht can be controlled
using the Internet are all examples of this age. There is more involvement in the
cyberspace. Internet banking transactions and online purchases are other proofs of this.
CULTURE SHAPES TECHNOLOGY
Despite the views provided by McLuhan, not everyone agrees with his propositions.
Contrary to the idea of technology affecting affecting change to society, cultural
determinism explains that culture and society shapes technology. According to Winston
(1986), a media scholar who advanced the idea of cultural determinism, society is still in
control of technology and the innovations over time do not dictate how it must adapt
and function in relation to these technologies.

The radical potential of a given technology to affect may be suppressed by societal


factors. In others words, technology is a product of need and not the other way around.
If there is no need for the technology, or it does not have a practical use, it will perish.

TRADITIONAL V.S. NEW MEDIA


Traditional media are those forms in the earlier periods of McLuhan`s media map. They
are traditional because of the specific characteristics that they offer. According to
McQuail (2005), traditional media is one-directional. The media experiences limited and
the sense receptors used are very specific (i.e., print media requires sense of sight, radio
requires sense of hearing, and television and film requires both).

With new media, the experience is more interactive. The audiences are more involved
and are able to send feedback simultaneously. New media integrates all the aspects of
the traditional media.
What Is New about New Media
There are four main categories of new media and all of them share “certain channel
similarities and are approximately differentiated by types of use, content, and context,”
ccording to McQuail.

1. Interpersonal communication media


Eg., would be the telephone, mobile phone, and e-mail where “content is private and
perishable and the relationship established and reinforced may be more important than
the information conveyed.”
2. Interactive play media
Video and computer-based games, plus virtual reality devices compose this category.
3. Information search media
The Internet and the World Wide Web become repositories or sources of a vast
collection of information that can be accessed real-tie despite geographical location.
Broadcast teletext and radio data services are also examples. Information retrieval is no
longer limted to personal computers bacause this functionality has been extended to
smart phones and tablets. Other means of information storage and retrieval include the
personal video recorder, CD-ROM, compact disc, and DVD.
4. Collective participatory media
This refers to the use of the Internet for “sharing and exchanging information, ideas, and
experiences and developing active (computer-mediated) personal relationships
(McQuail, 2010).”

Key characteristics of new media, according to McQuail, include interactivity, social


presence (or sociability), media richness, autonomy, playfulness, privacy, and
personalization. New media use expanded opportunities for self-expression especially
among the youth through Web logs, online forums, Web discussion boards, social
media, and messaging applications.

Functions of Communication and Media


According to McNair, communication and media function to:
1. Inform citizens of what is happening around them (also called the monitoring
function);
2. educate the audience as to the meaning and significance of the “facts”;
3. provide a platform for public political discourse, facilitating the formation of “public
opinion” and feeding that opinion back to the public from where ti came, [including] the
provision of space for the expression of dissent;
4. give publicity to governmental and political institutions (known as the “watchdog”
role of journalism); and
5. serve as channel for the advocacy of political viewpoints.

Media and Government:


A Love-Hate Relationship

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