McLunacy: Did Marshall McLuhan predict the future of media and social behavior?

Marshall McLuhan, Canadian philosopher, academic, media theorist…and prophet? McLuhan famously coined the phrases “the medium is the message” and “global village,” describing his technological determinism theory. In his time, many of McLuhan’s theories were dismissed by his peers. However, he did have quite a bit of foresight when predicting how the media would affect society as technology evolved.

Source: marshallmcluhan.com

The Medium is the Message

McLuhan theorized that as technology has advanced, how humans communicate has changed. The mediums we use to communicate affect human behavior, not the messages being transmitted. He viewed the history of communication in three separate paradigms: the tribal paradigm, the print paradigm, and the electronic paradigm. The tribal paradigm relied upon human-to-human interaction, which lent itself to being relational and communal. The invention of the printing press ushered in the print paradigm, which was characterized by linear thinking. The electronic paradigm paralleled the Industrial Revolution. The electronic paradigm allowed us to utilize multiples senses to see and hear information from a distance, making it similar to the tribal paradigm’s thinking.

Source: denverpost.com

What Did He Get Right?

Human behavior has changed with new technological inventions. McLuhan died in 1980, before the widespread use of the internet and smartphones. But did he imagine a time when a group of friends would be out to dinner, and each person was looking at a handheld computer rather than their dining companions?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko6J9v1C9zE

Source: youtube.com

Our global village has become even more global. The internet and social media have exponentially expanded our ability to communicate with others around the world. For example, fans can watch a live sporting event and communicate with other random fans using the same hashtag.

Media can extend human capabilities. Thanks to the amplification of media, the normal abilities of people can be extended. For example, there would not have been a viral sensation Ice Bucket Challenge without television, the internet, and social media to help humans spread the word.

What Doesn’t Work

The medium is the message. As someone in digital marketing, I know there is more to the message than the medium. We A/B test messaging for that exact reason. Does this ad perform better with the image of the blue or green dress? The medium is significant, but so is the content of the message it contains.

Human behavior evolves at the same pace as technology. Edward Lueder’s critique of McLuhan said that McLuhan assumes that society will evolve on a linear scale with technology. People are creatures of habit, and many dislike change.

Relational vs. linear thinking. McLuhan argued that the print paradigm necessitated linear thinking, but the electronic medium allowed us to consume multiple mediums at once. This is partially true. I can have the television on mute, be listening to music, and scroll through social media simultaneously. However, I can only actively consume one message at a time. If I’m watching a YouTube video, I am not actively listening to the song playing.

At the End of the Day

McLuhan had some observations that were before his time. In the early days of satellite television broadcasting, he foresaw a global village. He also was correct in saying the medium affects social behavior. But the content of the message must matter, too. If it didn’t, I would be in the wrong line of work.