Medium IS the Message

To my larger extent, I agree with the idea of McLuan's "medium is the message".  He explained that the effects of technology do not occur a the level of opinion or concepts, but alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance.

Based on his idea, we can know that the medium itself is the message.  We don't understand the medium that is television, new media etc.  However, we focus on the medium that we are consuming and the medium becomes a message.  We react differently to different forms of media and understand the message from the sense of ratios of people such as the visual and the sound.  As a result, the medium influences the society.

The faster development of mobile technology, everyone should have their own smart phone.  Moreover, they understand the message from the mobile, but they can understand the message from the internet in their mobility.  For example, Facebook is not the message, but the Facebook content is the message.  When someone is stalking the Facebook page, they can consume different kind of message and information from the photos and video.  They will look at the photo's caption or watch the video.  Those content can extend our audio and visual sense as to understand the message.  

In our daily life, different medium has their own message and we can understand the message according to our personal experience.  

When we look at the above photo, some people will think that it shows the freshness of the lobster.  On the other hand, some people may think that it promotes the  sharpness of the knife.  Thus, medium is the message and people will understand in different meaning according to their understanding and beliefs.

In conclusion, medium is the message.  Everyone can understand the message from the medium.  However, they will have different understanding and views when they are consuming the medium.  This leads to the social conflicts among people.

Student: Tang Yee Ting, Stephanie