The Mechanics of Media
Why messages sink or spread
Every message is shaped by the mechanics of media. Whether it’s a tweet, a TikTok video, a news article, or a movie, the characteristics of the medium determine how it’s made, how it’s consumed, and whether it spreads. If you understand the mechanics of media, you can more effectively communicate in a wide variety of mediums, and protect yourself from being manipulated by media.
The message is the mechanics of media
As media theorist Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” In Understanding Media, he wrote:
The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium…results from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs….
In other words, it’s not the content of the medium we should be worried about, but the way the characteristics of that medium determine its content — the mechanics of media.
The five characteristics of media
I propose that there are five characteristics present in any medium, which determine these mechanics. These characteristics affect the creation, consumption, and…
