Mediums

In this week’s reading, ‘Medium Theory: An Alternative to the Dominant Paradigm of Media Effects’,Joshua Meyrowitz article on his medium theory highlighted some ideas of the things society need to be mindful of when contemplating to research different media mediums. Meyrowitz defines mediums as: ‘A special type of media study that focuses on such characteristics of each medium, and on how each medium (or each type of media) is physically, socially, and psychologically distinct from other media.

What I found the most interesting was how mediums are debated through the effects theory. As analyzing mediums need to have more emphasis on the nature and capacity of each medium itself, rather than the content. In order for this to happen, it makes it more accurate to predict the influence it will have on society.The author lists medium characteristics, on what to consider when looking at different mediums, which I thought were extremely helpful in understanding his theory, and can look back on them while researching on this topic.

• The type of sensory information the medium is able and unable to transmit
• The form/ forms of information conveyed by the medium within each sense
• Type of control the users have over reception and transmission
• Physical requirements
• The degree and type of human intervention/manipulation that is necessary or possible in creating a message
• The medium’s durability
• Ways in which media physically interact with each other

Through some of these characteristics, Meyrowitz provides crucial information to what a medium theorist may be able to prove on a more researched and legitimate approach on how mediums hold the capacity to such influence of the media, and its effect on society.