The medium is the message.

My name is Vaibhav Diwanji. I'm a second year Ph.D. student in the School of Communication. I am from India. My major is communication theories. My research area is digital media and communications. To be more precise, I look at human computer interaction (HCI) in advertising and brand-related communications. Before joining the PhD program, I did MS in Integrated Marketing Communications here at the School of Communication in FSU. It's been over two years since I moved to Tallahassee and I simply love this place. FSU is really like a home away from home.​

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The above quote is by Mashall McLuhan. I am sure you would have heard or read about him at some point. It is a very popular phrase in the field of Communication Theories. It means that the form of a medium embeds itself in any message it would transmit or convey, thus creating a symbolic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is received and perceived. Every technological innovation, for McLuhan, involved a transformation of the human species. Modifying his popular slogan, “the medium is the message,” he asserted that the medium is the massage: “it literally works over and saturates and molds and transforms every sense ratio.” Electronic media, for McLuhan, involved an entirely new epic in the technological-environmental evolution of humans: they “extend our central nervous system in a global embrace, abolishing both space and time as far as our planet is concerned.” With the rapid advancements in Web 2.0 technologies and endless penetration of Facebook, Twitter and other social media websites as well as smartphones and wearables into our everyday lives, McLuhan's quote still holds true and over the next six weeks, we will explore how so.

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Watch this space as I share my experiences and research idea here. 
 

Best,

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