The Broad Definition of Media
The definition of media is broad. This is because media involves technology as well as anything else that creates extensions of the human senses and body. It can be seen from ancient times that the society has been shaped more by the nature of media with which people have been using to communicate more than the content of the communication. According to McLuhan new technology is a revolutionizing agent as every time a society develops an extension of anything in the society, all the other functions that are present in the society tend to be altered in a manner that accommodates that new form (p.125). As a result, whenever new technology penetrates the society, the new technology is seen to saturate every institution of that society. For instance, broadcasting and communicating through social media is a new technology and medium that has been developing while transforming people. How different people use media and technology conforms to the way some people had predicted it to be since the two have been acting as expansions to the lives of people.
Revolutionizing Agents in Politics
Technology has been a revolutionizing agent particularly in the field of politics. There have been presidents who have been known to use different social platforms to communicate and connect with people. For instance, Hugo Chavez is known to be the first president to have used direct means of contacting people via Twitter. In present days, Trump has also been using Twitter to run different political aspects. Perhaps this is made efficient by the function in Twitter which allows a user to send a message which is usually in the form of a status update and then it can be broadcasted to the list of saved people existing as friends and then they can also give their feedback. The television can also be used as a revolutionizing agent revolutionizing every political aspect more so in the Western world. For example, Castro uses the TV to rule his country by having TV dialog where citizens can have mass-participation and while giving their feedback. By doing this, Castro governs the Cuban people on camera while giving them the chance to be directly and intimately involved in the process of being part of the collective decision making.
Live Streaming as an Extension of Man
Live streaming is another important extension of man. Broadcasting live streams through the different social media platforms despite being a new form of technology has been transforming people at a significant rate. Live streaming amplifies a person's sight while at the same time they get to satisfy their desire of the current happenings by having a more accurate conscious or awareness of the same happenings. A person who is watching a live feed has a chance of seeing an unaltered version of whatever kind of video they are watching. This is because previously recorded footages can be edited and changed in a way that is manipulative so that they meet the desired need which a particular person wants. For example in a live stream that is showcasing a live performance of a video concert, the live stream will show the true reaction of the audience whichever it is. On the other hand, an edited video might decide to highlight only a selected brief of the reaction by the audience which is in line with the intentions of the person uploading the video. In such a situation, a person in the audience could be smiling at something else like the arrival of a friend, but the video could be manipulated in a way to suggest that the person is smiling at the performer.
Media as an Extension of Human Beings
According to McLuhan, the media or technology also acts as an extension to all human beings (P. 67). This is because all technologies are extensions of our physical systems as well as our nervous systems which affect the whole psychic and social complex (McLuhan, p. 72). According to McLuhan, the motor is considered an extension of the feet while a book is seen as an extension of the eyes (McLuhan, p. 107). These extensions can cause change in a person since the extension of any of the senses automatically displaces the other senses which in turn alters the way we think and therefore act. It is seen that when these changes are made, human beings also change altering and changing the way we see the world and ourselves. In a wider scope, live streaming gives an illustration of how technology can be used to replace some senses by enabling others and thus altering how people think and operate (McLuhan, p. 133). Live streaming has also caused some negative situations as the central paradox of live streaming which are immediacy and intimacy are the particular reasons as to why it has become almost impossible to control to what degree or extent some content can be displayed.
Issues and Impacts of Live Streaming
While some problems facing live streaming are substantial and the few technical issues that surface have been acted upon, some of the problems might have long-term impacts and it is these particular problems that need to be prioritized. The rawness of some of the live streams is disturbing as the factors which make this medium attractive are the same ones which make it almost impossible to control it (Reed). For example, there have been incidences where people live stream their suicides. There was also a case where a teenager who live-streamed her friend's rape. It might not be clear the reason why some people would post such videos since psychologists have said that such videos might be aimed at increasing the views and therefore the followers these particular individuals have. Some of these live-streams can also be used to show some of the injustices some people are exposed to. While it is difficult to filter what content can be live-streamed and which cannot, some of these videos get different reactions from the nation which are constantly changing the society. This is seen by the type of reaction after the nation has digested whatever incident has been shown meaning live streaming is changing the communication industry as well as the society (Reed). With regards to communication, the society can share an unedited version of a video that happened in real-time, thus availing footage that otherwise would not have existed.
Live Streaming and the Global Village
The concept of live streaming is becoming big business as many people are continuously broadcasting almost every activity of their daily lives. Perhaps this is the concept that McLuhan had formulated about the world as a global village. Live streaming has the capability of integrating the whole planet (McLuhan, p.88). Through the various aspects of the electronic independence, the world has managed to create a global village with the interventions that had been foreseen by McLuhan. The major interventions such as the internet, television, and mobile phones have completely revolutionized the world by making people aware of the events that are happening even in different geographical locations. Through the different types of media, people in different continents with different time zones can now connect instantly. The various forms of media technology have enhanced interdependence in the economic, political, and social aspects of society. Some years ago, it would have taken time before the traditional news outlets learned of what is happening, collect all the necessary information, and then broadcast the story to the viewer (Reed). This has long changed since not only can millions of people see what is happening, but they can also share these videos on their respective networks and connections. Live content is seen to be tapping into psychological motivators which are powerful, and hence the reason as to why some brands are already using these live contents as marketing strategies by incorporating brands into different live contents.
The Global Village and Orientalism
Edward Said coined the term orientalism which he used to explain a theory showing the relationship between power and knowledge. According to Said, knowledge is passed through communication. This means the creation of the global village has made it easier to achieve orientalism without necessarily the need to travel. With the current stage of advancement in technology, it is possible for an individual to learn from other continents and thus identify the market gaps and employment opportunities present in a particular continent and therefore respond appropriately. This type of achievement is what was predicted by McLuhan where he foretold about the interdependence among people in the world as a global village (McLuhan, p. 34). Technology has not been the only field that has been having the different innovations. The type of innovations that have been realized has either led to further improving an existing item or making it more functional. For example, the electric standing mixer that was found by Herbert Johnson, who was an American engineer at Hobart manufacturing Company, can still be found not only in navy restaurants but also in everyday homes.
The Evolution of the Standing Mixer
When this standing mixer was first invented, it was seen as a faster and efficient way of mixing whatever a person needed, and it was thus used in the Navy. This was seen as a way of making work easier, especially since in the Navy chefs were responsible for feeding a lot of people for up to three times every single day (stories.maker.me). The company kept releasing updated versions over the next few decades as each updated version would have either become better, lighter, or even less expensive. This standing mixer has been seen to be a big saver of both time and energy by the different people who have used it, and hence why it can still be found in homes today. The initial make of this standing mixer involved mixing the different constituents manually as one would use one hand to hold while the mixer moves in circular motions. As the level of technology continued to rise, Herbert Johnson made the first standing mixer that was capable of measuring and mixing the different constituents according to the proportions preferred by the user. With time, this standing continued to gain popularity due to its ability to connect people all across the world who understood the struggle of mixing dough by the use of a hand-spoon. By the year 1919, this standing mixer became even more popular as it captivated consumers with the affordable price it had on the average consumer in comparison to other products from other companies.
Conclusion
McLuhan argues that the definition of media is broad since media and technology can act as expansions for us and because media involves technology as well as anything else that creates extensions of the human senses and body. It can be seen from ancient times that the society has been shaped more by the nature of media with which people have been using to communicate more than the content of the communication. The various forms of media have thus come together to realize the analogy of the world as a global village. The various inventions that had been foreseen by McLuhan have also recreated the world into a global village through electronic independence. With new technologies and medium communication being invented, the notion of media as an extension of us is seen by analyzing how live streaming brings human enhancement. With many people now spending much of their time watching live footage online more than they spend watching the pre-recorded footage, it means people can connect immediately and intimately.
As seen in the recent days, people have been inclined to live streaming due to a number of reasons, such as how it is easy to share an unedited video that is happening in real-time, hence creating footage which might not have otherwise existed. Also, a person who is watching a live feed has a chance of seeing an unaltered version of whatever kind of video they are watching. This is because previously recorded footages can be edited and changed in a way that is manipulative so that they meet the desired need which a particular person wants.
Works Cited
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Hyde, E. (2016, September 01). Live Streaming: The WayIt Affects Today's World | Articles | Digital. RetrievedMarch 09, 2018, fromhttps://channels.theinnovationenterprise.com/articles/live-streaming-the-way-it-affects-today-s-world-lstwiatw
Kazdin, C. (2016, April 25). Psychologists Weigh In on the Teen Who Live-Streamed Her Friend's Rape. Retrieved March 09, 2018, from https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/jpyw5k/psychologists-weigh-in-on-the-teen-who-
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[email protected], K. I. (n.d.). Why are people live streaming their suicides? Retrieved March 09, 2018, fromhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation world/national/article129120064.html
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