Marshall McLuhan On Media Messages

McLuhan's 'medium is the message' mantra seemed so revolutionary 40 years ago. Hot media...cold media...media being the extension of human senses...it was all so new to those raised by Father Knows Best, Leave It To Beaver and I Love Lucy. TV's technology, its fast cuts and tight shots mesmerized us. McLuhan was the first to recognize video's impact on culture.

But what about today? Is the 'medium still the message?' No...not at all. The multi-media milleu of the social network mirages and their 'converged' partners no longer overwhelm the senses with their novelty. No...the medium is no longer the message. Its role as content is now replaced by the audience...the audience is now the message, and the medium serves only as...the medium.

Today the medium is just that...the medium. It is a conduit, a scrapbook, a personalized e-billfold with pictures and tweets and pokes and tags and groups and blogs. Today...the medium is the medium, the audience is the message and the individual is both the sender and receiver of its own content.