"We are heading into a very McLuhan-esque year. Marshall McLuhan-- the Patron Saint of WIRED-- made his name in the 1960s, studying how pivotal technologies produced widespread, non obvious changes. The Gutenberg press, he argued, created a spirit of "detachment" that propelled science while giving a new sense of agency to individuals. Electricity had a "tactile" effect, keeping us in contact with the world via telegraph, telephone and TV. "
The Social Medium is The Message (Feb 2017-- Wired magazine)
Clive Thompson's article, The Social Medium is the Message, appearing in this month's Wired magazine, explains so much about the present situation-- a world coming unglued by Trump's single week as President of the United States.
Donald Trump aroused a conflagration in 2016, getting elected against long odds and defeating Hillary Clinton, the heavy favorite. Hillary was favored by the most computer savvy people. I attended a dinner party on the night of the election, intended to be a celebration party for our group of liberal-minded friends. Instead, the party took on the feeling of a wake. We were shocked, along with the rest of the world.
The aftermath of Hillary's defeat proved as surprising as the actual loss. The supporters went into an extended period of mourning. The reason partly can be explained by Trump's extreme positions and shady track record. Trump displayed traits of a schoolyard bully. He oozed bile for his enemies-- beginning with Low Energy Jeb, followed by Lyin' Ted, Little Marco, and Crooked Hillary. The epithets had a catchy ring to them-- and you couldn't get them out of your head. Trump has some of the talent of a Madison Avenue composer of catchy phrases and memorable memes. But that Trumpian bombast and vitriol does not fully explain the deep sadness of the anti-Trump forces. After all, we had George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon in the nation's recent past.
Why didn't the liberal left collapse in a heap of emotions when right wing candidates took office in the past? The answer lies in Marshall McLuhan's prediction-- today's electronic man has feelings where the Gutenberg, literary man maintained an air of detachment. We are totally involved in our cellphones, our Facebook, our electronic Friends, our instant communications, and our feelings.
Trump has taken office and instituted a number of actions, fitful and intense stabs at public policy. They include talk of a wall between Mexico and the US and trade tariffs. Trump ordered a shutdown of Muslim visitors to the United States from 7 Muslim countries--and feelings are raging at levels rarely seen in public discourse. Trump's wrongheaded policies and purple rhetoric does not totally explain the emotional response exhibited in big cities across the country. I attended Vietnam era anti-war rallies and did not see the level of emotion in today's rallies.
So what's going on.... The electronic vortex, the social media, news at 186,000 miles per second, the speed of light, has brought us all closer together. We are a global village, just like Marshall McLuhan predicted. We are the villagers crowded around the tribal campfire. We take events quickly to heart. We no longer are the detached, literary men of the era of newspapers and train transport. The world changes in the blink of an eye. The same explosive media tools used by Donald Trump, the Twitter, the catchy phrases, the anger hurled at enemies real and imagined, that worked to get him elected can bring also bring him down. The social media giveth-- and taketh away.
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