The Medium is the Message

One of the dominant ideas of the postmodernism is that the content of a work of art is inseparable from its medium. When we read a book, or watch a movie, or look at a website, a large part of the cognitive interpretation of the “meaning” of that work is done by the simple act of identifying it with that particular medium. To look at it from a different angle, when we are the creator of a work of art or design, our understanding of the medium we are using effects how and what we create; it is a hallmark of Postmodernism that the artist's work circularly examines the nature of the work itself. This is, in part, what Marshal McLuhan meant by the words above. By identifying a book as a book, for example, we unconsciously accept certain conditions. We accept that there are words arranged in sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. We accept that there is a plot or a purpose in these words, which we are trying to get at by reading it (or which we are trying to disseminate by creating it). We accept that there are certain conventions with certain types of books; we don’t expect the same thing from a mystery novel as we do from a cookbook. Before we have even opened the cover or begun writing, we already have done a great deal the interpretation by referring to the patterns and frameworks that are defined in our culture.

This, of course, still applies today, but the rate at which those patterns and frameworks are changing seems to be accelerating. The medium of the website is a good example: only a few years ago, people’s expectation of what a website should be was undeveloped and vague. As opportunities and needs presented themselves, the medium of the internet took shape to fill those needs. Today the concept of a website is much more solid, and there are certain things we now always expect from our online experiences. There are subclasses of the online experience just as there are subclasses of books or movies: e-commerce, social networking, blogs, wikis, etc. These formats are imprinted on because they have proven useful, and as long as they remain useful, they will not completely disappear. But rapid changes in technology allows for greater innovation and experimentation than other media. Whereas the book hasn't changed much in centuries, we can expect the websites of the near future to be drastically different, even if they retain some of the information patterns they have now.