-Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan was known for understanding how technology effects society. He is known for coining the expressions "the medium is the message" and "the global village." He pioneered new ways of thinking about how we communicate. His work was controversial and constantly challenged for scientific proof. The result was McCluhan's Laws of Media.
McCluhan concluded that four things happen to all media and human artifacts: Enhance, Reverse, Retrieve, Obsolesce. He insisted that all four happen simultaneously, never in chronological order. Because of this, he settled on the tetrad to display the interlocking nature of these effects (source).
This tetrad can apply to any form of media and/or means of communication It is easily adapted to social media by answering the following questions:
What does it extend? The ability to connect and communicate. We now see instant gratification when we communicate. It extends our voices. Voice alone is no longer the norm. We can now record and recall instantly what has been voiced.
What does it make obsolete? Books and publications. Privacy. Isolation. Certain publication and marketing/public relation jobs may become obsolete. Bookstores will begin to disappear and newspapers will shut down.
What new opportunities does it create? Everyone can be involved in the media. It is no longer a monopoly. No longer is anyone dependent on one source or one channel for news. We now have access to learn whatever we want, whenever we want.
What does it reverse to when it overextends? This is the hardest of the four for me to come up with an answer to. It may reverse back to a monopoly with the corporations that currently control the television, controlling the internet. Freedoms that everybody has now may be gone.
I stumbled upon some interested blog entries about Marshall McLuhan and social media. They can be viewed by clicking here, here or here.
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