English Hot & Cold Media

Media: Hot and Cold

Language & Literature HL; Track 4.11

Atilla, Cathy, Kevin, Kassie & Stacey

Conclusion

McLuhan & His Theories of Media

"The meaning of a message is the change which it produces in the image."

1. Media evolves over time

2. The usage of media should be balanced

• McLuhan saw that every medium is an extension of some human faculty, with the media of communication exaggerating it in a particular sense.
• "The wheel...is an extension of the foot. The book is an extension of the eye... Clothing, an extension of the skin...Electric circuitry, an extension of the central nervous system" - Marshall McLuhan, The Medium is The Massage
• Major Idea = Whatever predominates media will influence human beings by affecting the way they perceive the world.
• Real life example: Digital Immigrants vs. Digital Natives
• Connection to hot & cold media.

The Importance of Balancing Media

• "...no medium has its meaning or existence alone, but only in constant interplay with other media."
• Balancing medias are important. Why?
• Preserving culture. Example: Tribal & Feudal Hierarchies or Globalization.

• Effect of imbalance:
• Psychic rigor mortis - a subtle state of shock where hot/new media technology can overwhelm individuals as they tried to "cool off" its effects (understand it).

Media and Language

Corporate Media and

the Internet

• Media, especially hot media, condenses language because everything is already provided for you, you just need to fill in the blanks by sending short messages
• e.g. in different social networking utilities like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
• The message does not change, but nowadays people do not need as many words as they did before.
• However, the way convey our message can change our perception about the message itself.

When put in comparison to the Internet, these are colder media because the Internet gives free access to all other media .

Today, 6 media giants control 90% of what we read, watch or listen to:

1. Disney

2. GE

3. News-Corp

4. Viacom

5. Time Warner

6. CBS

What is Hot & Cold Media?

Hot Media:

Hot media is a medium of high definition, or well filled with data, therefore causing low participation.

Cold Media:

Cold media is a medium of low definition, or lacking data, therefore causing high participation.

Examples of Media

The Importance of Balancing Medias

There is no such thing as just hot or cold media; it should always be used in comparison to each other.

Cold Media: TV Show Episodes, Telephones

Hot Media: PS4 Console, the Internet, Media Advertising

"...Whole cultures could now be programmed to keep their emotional climate stable in the same way that we have begun to know something about maintaining equilibrium in the commercial economies of the world..."

• "...no medium has its meaning or existence alone, but only in constant interplay with other media."
• Balancing medias are important. Why?
• Preserving culture. Example: Tribal & Feudal Hierarchies or Globalization.

• Effect of imbalance:
• Psychic rigor mortis - a subtle state of shock where hot/new media technology can overwhelm individuals as they tried to "cool off" its effects (understand it).

References

• "Hot and cool media (1965)." YouTube. YouTube, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
• "McLuhan." Media :. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. <http://deoxy.org/media/McLuhan>.

Media and Culture

- Technology is rapidly growing, thus media is becoming more hot than cold over time

- However, some cultures like that of "backward" countries (as McLuhan phrased it) reject hot media

- e.g. when Australian natives were given steel axes by the missionaries > collapse of an entire society

- We often have to "rediscover" old ways and traditions since hot media has given much information about innovations, etc.

English A Marshall McLuhan "Media's Hot and Cold"