Thursday, May 3, 2012

A Practical Application of Mass Comm Theory

Marshall McLuhan said the medium is the message. Simply put, this means that the channel through which a message is communicated (e.g. television, radio, Internet, phone, etc.) can say just as much or more than the message itself. Think about how you perceive information you read in your newspaper versus information you read on the Internet. Don't you consider one medium to be more trustworthy than the other?

I'm citing all this mass communication theory mumbo jumbo to illustrate something. What you say via Facebook, Twitter, text message, phone call, in person has a different meaning through each medium because we attach certain significations to each medium. Each medium offers something different for communication.

Sound absurd? Well, think of it this way. Say you're having a bad day, and three friends (all of whom you are equally close to) tell you they're thinking about you and hope you feel better. One posts on your Facebook wall, another sends you a text message, and the other calls you to tell you. Sure, all of your friends made an effort to cheer you up, but you know there is more significance tied to a phone call than a Facebook wall post.

All of this to say: Yes, think about what you say, but also think about how you choose to say it.
SDG

No comments:

Post a Comment