Author: q.wu1

McLuhan mentions several crucial points in how society is being shaped by “electric media” in The Medium is the Massage. First, he mentions family; the family circle is no longer shaped by your parents but instead by the media you are exposed to. This is accurate because children are no longer just communicating with their parents, but instead also to platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, and Facebook. Television is no longer the sole factor shaping how children perceive the world, but instead they now have other options to pick from. Hence, the expansion of media not only gives people more platforms to learn and exchange information, but it also provides us with the ability to choose where we want to obtain our information.

Second, McLuhan points out the “problem” with advancement in technology. He questions what people will do when “circuits” learn their jobs. Similarly, nowadays people are afraid that robots and machines will outperform them in their roles. Those with jobs that are more physically demanding and systematic will be replaced by machines.

Moreover, the medium becomes a platform for minority groups that the media had previously ignored. I think that this is the most significant strength of media- the power to provide people with a voice. It has become a commitment for society as a whole to acknowledge the existence of minority groups. For instance, movements such as Women’s March and protests exist to inform the general public of these issues. It is no longer an option to ignore these issues. Instead, media allows people to come together to protect rights and fight for issues that they stand for.

In a market that demands for speedy and efficient work, the media landscape is not an exception to this requirement. Lev Manovich, author of the The Language of the New Media, quotes that “cinema [has] become a slave to the computer” (25). The author implies that modern media has replied heavily on the data on the computer to translate to images, graphics, photos, etc that “whatever meaning and emotion was contained..has been wiped out” (25).  However, the unique aspect of media is that it has the power of human touch that machines and automation cannot wipe out. This is the exact point that I want to argue-media is not a slave to the computer, at least not yet.

One of Manovich’s principles of new media is automation. This principle implies that media has a tendency to become automated while it is undergoing computerization. Automation allows new media to be created without any human touch. For instance, web site layouts can be implemented with templates and codes. Graphics can be retouched until “perfection” by programs like Adobe Photoshop. Existing examples of automation in programs are Project Voco (photoshop of speech) and Wix (website builder). These softwares make it convenient for artists and curators to create work with preexisting graphics and files. In an extreme case, machines can replicate a piece of artwork using artificial intelligence. However, media cannot completely rely on computers because they lack emotion intelligence. Machines cannot create original work because it’s algorithms are based on existing work. There’s a growing trend in advertising design to becoming more illustrative. Consumers seem to react to illustrative design advertisements better than graphic design advertisements. The reason behind this may be because of the added human touch or “imperfection” of human designs. Automation of media can be convenient for artists, but the most compelling design is one that is created by an artist with a story in mind which cannot be wiped out by machines.