I completely and absolutely agree with Marshal McLuhan's idea that the medium is the message. I believe that not only does the format matter as far as what is received and what is ignored, but I also believe that it also reveals more about the meaning of the message and the message sender. For example, If I want to wish my best friend a happy birthday, I would call her, give her a present, take her out to dinner, or something else equally kind. If I were to just send her a message on facebook, it wouldn't really seem very sufficient. If I were to wish a distant acquaintance a happy birthday of facebook, it might seem like a nice gesture. I believe that the format and the content of the message are equally as important as the relationship between the communicators. I am not sure that I follow the idea of the cool medium vs. the hot medium, but as the book says, it is not embraced by everyone.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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Good point referencing the phone call example. It really does matter to whom the same medium is applied. The same medium could mean two different things to two different people. Just think if you sent a dozen roses to your spouse and then a dozen roses to your mechanic. The same gesture would definitely yield two entirely different responses from the receivers.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to consider not only what is contained in your message, but also the way it is sent. With technology progressing the way it is, we have even more options to deal with when considering relaying messages.