The medium is the message - McLuhan

"The medium is the message" is one of the fundamental concepts in McLuhan’s thought.

According to McLuhan, when analysing a medium (such as television, print or radio), we should not focus on the content it conveys (for example, the kind of film or radio programme).

It is the medium itself, rather than the content it carries, that profoundly influences users and helps shape the way they think.

Whether television broadcasts a football match, a film or a documentary is not relevant; the real message, its actual influence on society, is television itself.

According to McLuhan, it works primarily by "comforting" and "reassuring" the viewer.

You will now interact with a small television and try to discover television’s real message, beyond the content it broadcasts.

How it works: you control the bottom paddle.

DEBRIEFING

The exercise you just completed follows McLuhan’s approach: "It is by standing outside a structure or medium that its principles and lines of force can be identified."

Regardless of the messages it conveys, the small square you played with serves as a moving element, much as a ball would in other interactive settings.

As McLuhan would say, analysing that small square solely as a medium that carries content is a mistake.

What is television’s real message in the experience you just had?