Mediated communications has for the
past century turn into the norm for almost everyone around the globe;
specifically through digital telecommunications means, we have grown used to
talking, writing into a device to convey our message to another person
thousands of miles away using our mere voice and text.
It
is simply the next step in Marshall McLuhan‘s theory of “Media Ecology’ through
the proliferation of the Global Village. It is described as a penultimate
gathering of consciousness, where vast distances would not hamper the
collective discourse on socio-political and other academic issues by a
connected global society, a veritable village of interdependency.
As
everyone felt connected through earlier oral teachings in villages during the
early eras of civilization, the insemination of knowledge and philosophical
thought during the era of books and newspapers after the invention of the
printing press, as well as the rise of the visual stimulation and manipulation
of perception and emotion through the creation of pictures, film and
television, the internet is simply an extension of that evolution.
An
evolution of collective thought, one now made easier through gadgets like
mobile devices. Thus it was inevitable that we delve deeper into the phenomenon
to understand our why we feel the need to be connected to this Global Village;
surveys on our usage of these devices are the same kinds of usage surveys done
when the other previous mediums were introduced and still carried out today.
Research such as the one highlighted in the
New York Daily News, about our supposed surprising fast adaptation and apparent
of this communicative medium, are all too common, with nary a single one
showing how it compared to how we accepted a new medium previously.
Yes
we slept with smartphones, but we’ve slept with books for hundreds of years
before that and the broadcast media half a century ago. Other news such as the
one depicting a youth killing his mother due to not supposedly not getting a
smartphone, a rampant sensationalism to reach bottom line of mass media; to
gain profit by attracting readers, just because neither of the previously
mentioned article tried to delve deeper then the surface of their findings and simply
slapped a one fits all explanation to them.
What
was the motivation of the killing was there history that pushed the killer over
the edge? What is the major motivation behind the need to be digitally
connected to the Global Village through their Smartphone? The unifying theory then is that both
articles exhibited a need by marginalized individuals wanting to be heard and
the best way is through being connected to a Global Village where they can
achieve a sense of belonging to something and someone while lending their voice
and opinions, giving them a sense of importance.
References
- “Media
Ecology by Marshal McLuhan” in the book,
“A First Look at Communication Theory” by Em Grifin [McGraw-Hill,
2012]
- Meena
Hart Duerson. (Thursday, August 16, 2012, 2:28 PM).
“We’re
addicted to our phones: 84% worldwide say they couldn’t go a single day without
their mobile device in their hand”. Retrieved 30 April, 2014, from http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/addicted-phones-84-worldwide-couldn-single-day-mobile-device-hand-article-1.1137811
- Dennis
Wong. (05 April 2014| last updated at 07:10PM).
“Mom
murdered for smart phone”.
Retrieved
30 April, 2014, from http://www.nst.com.my/latest/mom-murdered-for-smart-phone-1.551338
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