Strengths and Weaknesses of McLuhan’s Ideas

Strengths

a) His idea that “we shape our tools and they, in turn, shape us” is applicable nowadays in the manner in which social media plays a major role in people’s daily lives. Clearly, people can manipulate social media but it also manipulates their lives.

b) His prediction that media will eventually cool down was correct. With the advent of many disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality, no technology can exist forever as creativity and innovation are bringing about new ideas. The case is also being witnessed on social media innovations.

c) Considering that technology and mass media are changing over time, McLuhan’s theory can still be applicable across various time periods considering that he uses plenty of generalized statements.

Weaknesses

a) A notable downside to McLuhan’s ideas is that technology does not force itself on people. In fact, people create technologies and decide whether or not they would want to use the same.

b) His theory of technological determinism tends to generalize mass media without regard for its diverse use cases and applications.

c) His argument that the “medium is the message” lacks content in that he does not personally show interest in the contents of the message.

I find plenty of McLuhan’s ideas incredibly useful. This is particularly based on the time period within which he came up with his theory. He foresaw an interconnected world and that is exactly what is happening currently. His emphasis on the power of mass media has been clearly demonstrated in the modern-day. The most notable example is the rapid adoption of social media by individual and business users. There is no doubt that the world is more interconnected today and that has largely been the case due to technological progression. Clearly, technology or mass media today has changed the nature of society. People are sending and sharing information more effectively unlike in the past. Technology is having a major role to play in this regard.