In this 1990 clip, late professor & media critic Neil Postman brilliantly clarifies what truly causes info overwhelm. The root cause he identifies is sinister.
The Medium is The Message
In 1964, media theorist Marshall McCluhan created a quote that still resonates:
“The medium is the message.”
This quote gets at the idea that we are not just influenced by the particularities of what specific individuals say. We are also invisibly influenced by the platform, medium, or system through which those individuals speak.
With this context, we can better understand what Postman is saying. While he was talking about TV, it is just as relevant for social media...
What TV Teaches Us About Social Media
According to another Postman interview:
“The function of television in America is to gather an audience, which can be sold to advertisers.”
And, early on, it was found that the best way to do this was by releasing a "stream" of 30 and 60-minute shows split up by ads every few minutes.
While social media is di…
