Judging from the BCM112 twitter feed, I think most of us had a fairly similar reaction to Marshall McLuhan’s phrase “The medium is the message.”
It seemed so simple at first, but these five little words soon had many of us scratching our heads. Did this mean the message wasn’t important? Or that we should ignore the medium? Was this just a reference to the semi-popular 2000s television series, ‘Medium’?
WHAT AREN’T YOU TELLING US, ALISON? Source.
The answer is, shockingly, none of these. What it actually means is that the way we receive a message changes the way we perceive that message. McLuhan was simply pointing out that the medium needs to be taken into consideration because it can drastically influence how we receive information.
Today I want to give you a brief example of how exactly the medium influences the message by focusing on comments sections, and I’ll use reddit’s comments sections specifically as an example. Say you’re browsing the /r/news subreddit. You might read an article praising a new government plan to replace light-bulbs with jars of fireflies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
If you were reading this article in a newspaper, once you were finished reading you would either move on to the next story or stop reading all together and these are still options you have on reddit. However, what is interesting about comments sections, especially on a site as popular as reddit is that it provides a platform for you to discuss the article with hundreds, if not thousands, of other users immediately after reading it.
The comments section on a post in /r/news. Source.
You’ll find many users discussing and debating the article, pointing out benefits and consequences you may not have considered, or even just cracking jokes. As mediums, websites like reddit (with their comments sections) have the ability to completely change the way we perceive a message.
In the interests of not going over the wordcount, that’s all for this week. Thanks for reading.
Mathew Robinson 
Using the platform of reddit as an example of Marshall McLuhan’s phrase “the medium is the message” was an interesting approach to the topic as it made me think about how social media platforms, and users discussing and debating posts and articles in the comments section can change the way an audience perceives a message. Although, do you think the way “the medium is the message” has changed due to the expansion of the Internet? Or do you think the medium has always played a role in how a message is understood before the era of the Internet?
I love the idea of using the comments section of Reddit as a medium, it’s something I hadn’t even thought about. It really does emphasise the difference in the medium effect of the 21st century. I am sure that when McLuhan said that the “medium is the message” there was no idea that the internet would be such a dominant medium. It has definitely changed the way messages are perceived through the mediums.
Super relevant way to describe the medium is the message. Really like this post!
Like others before me, I have to say I really like that use of Reddit. I think you’ve got some really rock solid ideas here, and I think the ‘Medium’ reference is quirky. Nice touch!
What I’d love to see, though, is some specific examples from Reddit and how it relates to the topic. I’d love to see a direct example of this effect, and though I know it pretty much works with the whole site, I’m sure there are a few strong threads out there.
I like your usage of images to break up the text though, makes your own message punchy and to the point.