{"id":63,"date":"2012-02-22T19:31:49","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T19:31:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edublog.me\/shapingmedia\/?page_id=63"},"modified":"2012-03-08T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2012-03-08T14:57:53","slug":"medium","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edublog.me\/shapingmedia\/starting-points\/medium\/","title":{"rendered":"3. Medium"},"content":{"rendered":"

“There are three erors in this sentnce.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

We can open a book to read, write an eMail, select a TV-channel to view, surf the internet to follow links, enter a game to play.
\nThe common conception of a medium is usually that of a technical means of communication and information, external and disparate from us, something safe and sound that we can use, enter, fill – and leave at will.<\/p>\n

Seen from the view of epistemological theories like radical constructivism, or media theories e.g. by Marshall McLuhan or Niklas Luhmann, there are some caveats to seeing media as mere external tools.
\nAs McLuhan puts it, \u201cany medium has the power of imposing its own assumption on the unwary” (McLuhan (1964), “Understanding Media”, 15). There are three attributes of media that are worth looking at, to understand how this imposition works:<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, media are generative<\/em>. They are not neutral, passive containers, but imprint their characteristics upon their content. The limitations that span a defined space of expectable and expected possibilities is<\/em> the medium, it is the first and foremost message delivered. For oral communication one limitation may be its transience, for TV the forced timing of its reception; both limitations also opening up consequences not possible without them, e.g. the vivid, personal and singular nature of any utterance; or the shaping of communities of interest by time schedules.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Second, established media tend to become transparent<\/em>. A medium functions best when it is not perceived as such, but stands back in favour of its obvious content, the medium itself remaining beyond the threshold of our conscious perception (Sybille Kr\u00e4mer (2008), “Medium, Bote, \u00dcbertragung”, 25-33). We perceive a medium as a medium only if it unexpectedly limits our expression, if we are unaccustomed to it, and\/or if it malfunctions. At the same time, a designer’s usual goal is to turn a medium intuitively usable; an educator’s usual goal is to choose exactly such an intuitively usable, fitting medium and concentrate on filling in content and contextualisation. The common way for both is to go for transparency<\/em> of the medium.<\/p>\n

Third, media are expressive content<\/em>: “the medium is the message” (McLuhan (1964), 8).
\nA medium can change – or be changed – over time, it can be expanded, invented anew, corrupted, appropriated like its contents. A medium is thus per se a dynamic form, though for technical limitations or socio-cultural ease-of-use it is usually seen as a stable given. The creation of a new, unique application\u00a0 – e.g. Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook – is the creation of a new medium within the medium of digital-networked media, and contains also Wikipedia-, Twitter- or Facebook-specific messages to the user, beyond those of the digital-networked medium.<\/p>\n

For future digital-networked media this means that media will be intentionally created for their usability, to elicit a specific kind of use and response, to foster a desired pattern of behaviour by their users, beyond the mere delivery of content. This can already be seen in services like Twitter, Facebook, or the Kindle e-book reader, which change the notion of ‘communication’, ‘community-building’ or ‘reading’ by technically both expanding and limiting the acts, and by altering concepts of ‘message’, ‘friendship’ or ‘property’.
\nSpeaking with Marshall McLuhan, there is much more to a medium than just its overt content.<\/p>\n

“we do not \u2018surf\u2019 and the internet to us is not a \u2018place\u2019 or \u2018virtual space\u2019. The Internet to us is not something external to reality but a part of it: an invisible yet constantly present layer intertwined with the physical environment.”
\n\u2013 Manifesto “We, the Web kids”<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Above image is part of a comic, Scott McCloud explains Google Chrome (2008)<\/a>
\nYou can ignore something only if you have perceived it beforehand.
\nDid you noticed the web today?<\/p>\n

Texts to read:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Media are artifacts that work by inclusion and omission, by restriction and liberation. Marshall McLuhan was a prominent, and probably the most influential media and communication theorist in the latter half of the 20th century; Niklas Luhmann was an influential system theorist (and radical constructivist), who also researched the nature of ‘the’ medium. McCloud pays a hommage to McLuhan, and is quite influential in his own right: Will Wright (“The Sims”) and Chris Crawford (GDC<\/a>) reference and recommend<\/a> him.<\/p>\n