Blog Post 3: The Trilogy

Brinton

 

 One of the most important contributions to the field of communications is the theory of the medium being the message, posited by Marshal McLuhan. This sentiment is echoed in the articulation concerning the message, technological means, and social agents. Long before the internet, there was a simpler method of communication: writing. Writing was originally meant to be one-of-one, rarely imitated but never duplicated. It was that way for a long time, before the notable invention of the printing press, which Martin Luther made excellent use of to post his theses against the Catholic Church's use of indulgence and other points of concern. This was the message Luther directed to anyone who would or could read. The social agents in this scenario would be the receivers of this information as well as those who chose to reproduce it, through the technology of the printing press. This identifies the technological means, as the press popularised the text and thus amplified the message Luther was attempting to purvey. Let's take these identifiers of the assemblage into the modern age, characteristically through the medium of memes. The still semi-popular meme of a woman yelling at a white cat occupying a table is a staple of internet culture at this point. Centuries after Luther posted his last thesis, the media assemblage which embodies the articulation still remains. The message of the meme is a humourous one, positioning the frantic appearing woman to be distressed over something that may or may not warrant the concern, and the cat displaying apathy in response, seemingly underplaying the issue. The technological means to display and even create this message is one of the internet, a medium in and of itself. Downloading and editing the picture to create an original message to then post, requires the use of a technology that can access the internet, most likely a smartphone or computer. Finally, the social actors are very much the same in this regard, that being those who choose to read the meme and then republish it online. This could be done by posting it on one's personal story (Snapchat, Instagram), posting to an image board (Reddit, 4Chan), and possibly taking credit for the meme by refusing to source the original creator and/or cropping a watermark from the meme (commonly known as content thieving).