Medium Media

In the article “The medium is the message” by  Marshall McLuhan is about how the message of the medium that is being transmitted to society is more important than the intention. Communication has changed drastically in society because of media, for example automation. Lots of people are losing jobs because of automated machines in factories. From McDonalds using menu kiosks for customers to use instead of having them talk to actual people to toll booth people losing jobs because of EZ pass. The McDonalds menu kiosk can help those with social anxiety, but it also takes away jobs that people need. There are benefits but at the cost of consequences. Many forms of communications are changing for better and for worse. Automated cars are good because they help those who are disabled to get around easier but they can also be harmful because we don’t know the full extent of possible consequences.  We don’t only have to focus on machines but think bigger to the internet itself such as Twitter and Instagram. We can now communicate with people all around the world through these social media platforms. Facebook, a medium, was created to connect around the world and its intention was to be able to talk to friends and family world wide. Has that been effectively communicated to society? Some people would say yes and some would say no, and those who say no would say that answer because of the recent Facebook scandals. McLuhan compares media to art by stating that media can affect people just as much as art does.  Medium is the message, and however we interpret it opens doors to growth (or it can hinder growth) as a society.

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