Medium nudges expression
Introduction
In the previous post linked above, I introduced the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and proposed that the hypothesis applied to both natural and technical languages. This time, I want to expand that idea, that rules and structure influence thinking, to the medium itself.
“The medium is the message”
In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, media theorist Marshall McLuhan proposes that the nature of the medium carries greater importance than the content of its messages. For example, the medium of electric light, independent of content, carries the importance of enabling clear and easily shapable visual expression in the dark.
Even disregarding the relative weights of the medium versus the content, this idea clearly lays forth that the choice of medium influences the overall meaning of a message.
This post as an example
Take this post, for instance. If I tried to control for content and expressed these exact same words in say, audio form, the post would take on different meaning. The narrator, likely I, would emphasize certain words that you would not emphasize yourself. The timbre of voice would evoke auditory associations. The convenience of listening instead of reading would change how much you remember.
Beyond that, the choice of medium would affect the content itself. In say, video form, I would attach clips of McLuhan, electric light, and myself. In fact, I would say changing the medium inevitably, to varying degrees, alters the content. In our audio form example, the emphasis and the tone themselves constitute new content.
Conclusion
Through both this post and the last, I really want to drive home one point. The choices in expression you make, outside of content, matter. A lot. What language, what medium, if you want to express yourself well, if I want to express myself well, demand our attention.