{"id":181975,"date":"2024-04-23T10:07:10","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T15:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=181975"},"modified":"2024-06-03T20:26:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T01:26:04","slug":"more-than-ever-the-medium-is-the-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/leisure\/more-than-ever-the-medium-is-the-message\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than Ever, the Medium Is the Message"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Graphic<\/p>\n

Have you had two <\/span>different<\/span> experiences, one where you <\/span>were dumped<\/span> by text <\/span>message,<\/span> and one where you <\/span>were broken up<\/span> with in person? While <\/span>similar sentiments were probably conveyed<\/span> in both instances, the context of each likely changed your feelings about the experience and even how you then assessed and now remember the relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

This example begins to <\/span>get at<\/span> what media philosopher Marshall McLuhan meant when he famously said<\/a> \u201cThe medium is the message.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When we think about the message of <\/span>a communication<\/span> \u2014 the aspect <\/span>of it<\/span> that can change a recipient\u2019s thoughts and behavior \u2014 we typically think of the <\/span>content<\/span><\/em> of the communication. <\/span>But<\/span> McLuhan argued that communication is shaped not only by its content<\/span>, <\/span>but by its <\/span>character<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> It\u2019s not just w<\/span>hat<\/span><\/em> <\/span>is said<\/span> that\u2019s important, but<\/span> how<\/span><\/em> it\u2019s said. This <\/span>how<\/span>,<\/span> the medium of the <\/span>message,<\/span> can, <\/span>in fact,<\/span> be the most influential part of communication; it <\/span>is<\/span><\/em> the message. <\/span><\/p>\n

The character of a message changes minds just as readily as its content. A medium\u2019s message, McLuhan said, is the \u201cchange of scale or pace or pattern\u201d it introduces \u201cinto human affairs.\u201d <\/span>The nature of communication mediums changes the structure of how we think and do things<\/span>, and have<\/span> second <\/span>and third order<\/span> social, psychological, and religious effects. While we often think of <\/span>the technology of communication<\/span> as neutral, it isn\u2019t; it invariably alters individual psyches and collective culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

This makes intuitive sense when we think about how the medium of digital communication \u2014 which often takes the form of bite-sized, endlessly varied, always-on nuggets \u2014 has shrunken and fragmented attention spans and altered the pattern and pace of our habits. No one on social media <\/span>is explicitly saying<\/span>, \u201cDon\u2019t read for as long\u201d or \u201cBe more distracted when you\u2019re talking to someone,\u201d but the medium has conveyed that message, and we have absorbed it, nonetheless.<\/span><\/p>\n

The shortened, rapid-fire character of modern media affects <\/span>not only<\/span> our cognitive and real-world <\/span>rhythms<\/span>,<\/span> but also<\/span> the significance we lend to the content it carries.<\/span><\/p>\n

In describing the structure of broadcast news programs in 1982\u2019s <\/span>Amusing Ourselves to Death<\/span><\/em><\/a>, media theorist Neil Postman noted that \u201cthe average length of any story is forty-five seconds\u201d <\/span>and observed<\/span> that \u201cWhile brevity does not always suggest triviality, in this <\/span>case<\/span> it <\/span>clearly<\/span> does. <\/span>It is simply <\/span>not possible<\/span> to convey a sense of seriousness about any event if its implications are exhausted in less than one <\/span>minute\u2019s time<\/span>.\u201d<\/span> Likewise, we unconsciously feel that anything that <\/span>can be conveyed<\/span> in a 60-second TikTok video or short tweet can\u2019t <\/span>really<\/span> be <\/span>that <\/span><\/em>important. <\/span><\/p>\n

But arguably the most significance-draining aspect <\/span>of the medium<\/span> of modern media is the way that each piece of context-less content is sandwiched between other context-less and entirely unconnected pieces of content.<\/span><\/p>\n

Postman said the phrase \u201cnow … this\u201d was one of the scariest phrases in our language. He was again referring to news programs and the way the phrase allows newscasters to abruptly segue between two completely unrelated stories, as in \u201cThe missile strike killed over 100 civilians. No<\/span>w … t<\/span>his. A koala bear was born at the zoo!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Postman said: \u201cThe phrase is a means of acknowledging <\/span>the fact that the world as<\/span> mapped by the speeded-up electronic media has no order or meaning and is not to be taken seriously.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cnow … this\u201d phenomenon has only accelerated in the modern age. <\/span>As you scroll through social media, you see a reel of a funny sports blooper, followed by someone making nachos, <\/span>followed by<\/span> someone explaining a Bible verse, <\/span>followed by<\/span> someone working out, <\/span>followed by<\/span> someone giving relationship advice, <\/span>followed by<\/span> a car crash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the medium of social media presents all of these things on an equal plane, each seems to possess equal significance. A <\/span>great<\/span> flattening takes place. The baser content <\/span>isn\u2019t brought up<\/span> to the loftier\u2019s level; the loftier content <\/span>is brought down<\/span> to the base. Everything begins to feel as if it has equal weight . . . <\/span>and then begins to feel weightless. Everything starts to seem equally trivial. Everything starts to seem equally unworthwhile. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because the medium inescapably remains the message, it\u2019s worth considering not only what you <\/span>say,<\/span> but where you say it, and not just what messages you choose to <\/span>consume,<\/span> but how you consume them.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you had two different experiences, one where you were dumped by text message, and one where you were broken up with in person? While similar sentiments were probably conveyed in both instances, the context of each likely changed your feelings about the experience and even how you then assessed and now remember the relationship. This example begins to get at what media philosopher Marshall McLuhan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,42273],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-181975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leisure","category-living"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Medium-is-Message-BLANK-1-538x280.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Medium-is-Message-BLANK-1-768x429.jpg","aom":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Medium-is-Message-BLANK-1-372x230.jpg","reactor-320":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Medium-is-Message-BLANK-1-320x179.jpg","reactor-640":"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Medium-is-Message-BLANK-1-640x358.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181975"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181991,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181975\/revisions\/181991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181975"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=181975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}