Media materialism is not only an approach to thinking about media (duh), but it can also be incorporated in a persons way of thinking about history, the economy, politics and the world as a whole. Vague, yeah. Some of the main ideas or elements of media materialism relate to technology (as in computer code or microwave rays), technique (such as the uniquely human traits and skills that are needed to use tools, like turning a screw) and culture (the subgroups within the population and how they use technology).

Media materialism is also concerned with the fear that technology is going too far, and haven’t we all seen the results of these fears. I know I have. When I was younger and myspace was gaining in popularity among my peers, I wasn’t allowed to have one ~ my Dad had heard about a woman who had met someone online, via the site, and been murdered. My Dad didn’t quite understand the few steps in between those two events (having a myspace account, and being killed) were the cause and effect factors that meant that poor girl was killed. No, my Dad was absolutely certain that if his daughter even looked at the myspace homepage I would be immediately dead. It was a telltale sign of the fear the generation before mine held because of the speed of technology’s advancement within the last 50 years.

It got me thinking, what would a world be like where technology was allowed to develop itself in response to the world it exists in? I thought of the movie Her by Spike Jonze, which took me two sessions to watch because it opened up a world of ideas and possibilities that I hadn’t previously considered and it was a little too real. It’s not unlikely that we will see the invention of a technology with the power to act, respond and learn the way ‘Samantha’ did in the film. Here’s the trailer, definitely watch it if you haven’t already.