MEDIUM THEORY

-

THE MEDIUM AFFECTS PERCEPTION

(also known as channel theory, or media formalism)
History and Orientation
McLuhan (1964) challenged conventional definitions when he claimed that the medium is the message. With this claim, he stressed how channels differ, not only in terms of their content, but also in regard to how they awaken and alter thoughts and senses. He distinguished media by the cognitive processes each required. McLuhan popularized the idea that channels are a dominant force that must be understood to know how the media influence society and culture.
Core Assumptions and Statements
Core: Medium theory focuses on the medium characteristics itself (like in media richness theory) rather than on what it conveys or how information is received. In medium theory, a medium is not simply a newspaper, the Internet, a digital camera and so forth. Rather, it is the symbolic environment of any communicative act. Media, apart from whatever content is transmitted, impact individuals and society. McLuhan’s thesis is that people adapt to their environment through a certain balance or ratio of the senses, and the primary medium of the age brings out a particular sense ratio, thereby affecting perception.
Statement: Some of the metaphors used by McLuhan are: The medium is the message! The medium is the massage. We live in a mess-age. The content of a new medium is an old medium.
Conceptual Model
Not applicable.
Favorite Methods
Medium theory is an analytical theory with few empirical model building. Some of the methods used are: analysis of media characteristics and historical analysis of human perception.
Scope and Application
Medium theory examines physical, psychological and social variables as the senses that are required to attend to the medium; whether the communication is bi-directional or uni-directional, how quickly messages can be disseminated, whether learning to encode and decode in the medium is difficult or simple, how many people can attend to the same message at the same moment, and so forth. Medium theorists argue that such variables influence the medium's use and its social, political, and psychological impact.
Example
To be added.
References
Key publications
  • Innis, H. (1964). The Bias of Communication. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Innis, H. (1972). Empire and Communications. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extentions of men. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • McLuhan, M., & Fiore, Q. (1967). The medium is the massage. An inventory of effects. New York: Bantam Books.
  • McLuhan, M. & & Fiore, Q. (1968). War and peace in the global village. New York: Bantam Books.
  • McLuhan, M. (1978). The brain and the media: The ‘Western’ hemisphere. Journal of communication, vol. 28(4), 54-60.
  • Meyrowitz, Joshua. (1985), No Sense of Place, The impact of electronic media on social behavior. New York: Oxford University Press.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ALTERCASTING THEORY

-
ALTERCASTING A tactic for persuading people by forcing them in a social role, so that they will be inclined to behave according to that role. History and orientation Although the term altercasting is used quite frequently, it is not a very well-known or elaborated theory of persuasion. Core assumptions When a person accepts a certain social role, a number of social pressures are brought to bear to insure that the role is enacted. The social environment expects the person to behave in a manner that is consistent with the role; the role also provides the person with selective exposure to information consistent with the role. Altercasting means that we ‘force’ an audience to accept a particular role that make them behave in the way we want them to behave. There are two basic forms of altercasting: Manded altercasting  means that we ‘tell’ people who they are (or are supposed to be) by making an existing role salient (‘You as a Christian should....’), by placing others in
Read more

LANGUAGE EXPECTANCY THEORY

-
EFFECTS OF LINGUISTIC VARIATIONS ON PERSUASIVE MESSAGES History and Orientation Brooks (1970) provided a spark to begin developing the Language Expectancy Theory. He had expectations about what a source might or might not say in persuasive messages. Burgoon, Jones and Stewart (1975) added the impact of linguistic strategies. They claimed that strategic linguistic choices can be significant predictors of persuasive success. In 1995 Burgoon provided a detailed version of the formulation of the Language Expectancy Theory. Core Assumptions and Statements Language Expectancy Theory is a formalized model about message strategies and attitude and behavior change. Message strategies include verbal aggressions like fear appeal, explicit opinions and language intensity which are more combat. Language Expectancy Theory assumes that language is a rule-governed system and people develop expectations concerning the language or message strategies employed by others in persuasive attempts (B
Read more

ADAPTIVE STRUCTURATION THEORY

-
ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN ORGANIZATION CHANGE History and Orientation Adaptive Structuration Theory is based on Anthony Giddens' structuration theory. This theory is formulated as “the production and reproduction of the social systems through members’ use of rules and resources in interaction”. DeSanctis and Poole adapted Giddens' theory to study the interaction of groups and organizations with information technology, and called it  Adaptive Structuration Theory.  AST criticizes the technocentric view of technology use and emphasizes the social aspects. Groups and organizations using information technology for their work dynamically create perceptions about the role and utility of the technology, and how it can be applied to their activities. These perceptions can vary widely across groups. These perceptions influence the way how technology is used and hence mediate its impact on group outcomes. Core Assumptions and Statements AST is a viable approach for st
Read more