Final Blog

Theme 2
Explain Meyrowitz's theory as it applies to relationships enabled by electronic media, and trace the evolution of such mediated relationships from Mary Dyck to twitter, including discussion of parasocial interaction, ambient awareness, 'hook-ups" through IM-ing, and other examples you see as relevant


The Medium Theory, which states that the emphasis of communication is being places not so much on the content but on the medium through which the communication is made, is a theory that has been explored for decades. At the forefront of this discussion are two very intelligent writers, Joshua Meyrowitz and Marshall MacLuhan. While MacLuhan’s theory focuses more on the medium through which the communication is made, Meyrowitz’s theory focuses more on the technological contents of media beyond its apparent content. Meyrowitz’s looks beyond the media itself and attempts to explore such ideas that we now know as parasocial interaction and ambient awareness. In 1986 Meyrowitz published his book No Sense of Place and through this book really showed how technologies have worked to influence and to shape the social interactions that now take place today. From the very early stages of the radio all the way to television and the new online networking sites (Twitter and Facebook), technology has worked to shape the way we as humans interact with each other.

As radio began to emerge as the new inventive technology people started to become amazed at how popular it became so quickly. The radio was an entertainment medium that connected people all over the country. Even though this social networking was primitive, it still worked to help people interact. The Radio Diaries of Mary Dyck are a perfect example in that they showed how important radio was to farm women who had no other link to the world. Radio provided a way for people living in the margins of society to be able to connect to any and everyone they wanted. As radio progressed, new stations and frequencies such as AM FM, and now satellite radio XM, worked to shape peoples relationships even more. As was stated in the film “Rock Jocks” where would Woodstock, or even the Vietnam War, have been without the help of all those pioneer FM dj’s. Radio showed people how to stand up and gave them a voice, helped connect them others all over the world and led the way for new social interaction mediums to emerge.


As technology improved, the way people interacted with each other changed as well. The next major shift in social interaction came about due to the increase in popularity and development of internet social networking sites. Twitter, Facebook, personal ads, blogs, gossip and newspaper websites are all newer and much more personal versions of the connectivity that the radio gave way to. Accessing someone’s personal information, seeing pictures and knowing their daily activists are all available on these mediums and people take full advantage. There has even been a new theory, known as parasocial interaction, which is becoming extremely popular. A parasocial relationship is one in which one party knows a second party but the second party knows nothing about the first. It is a very one-sided relationship that is made extremely easy by Facebook and Twitter where everything is out in the open. This definitely shapes how people interact with each other. Without ever meeting someone Facebook can tell you everything you need to know about that person. People who would have never met in person can now meet, talk and form a relationship. In Walter Kern’s article, A Christmas Love Story, Kern talks about how he met his wife on Facebook over Christmas one year. Something like this could never have happened without these new social mediums.


The link to Kern’s Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/magazine/20FOB-WWLN-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Digital+Mistletoe&st=nyt


Another factor that contributes to social relationships becoming more and more internet centered is the new technologies that make it faster and easier to access the internet. Gadgets like the IPhone and Blackberry and laptop computers all make accessing information and interacting with other people extremely fast and easy. These technologies can all access the internet and are handheld which means they can be taken anywhere. People can receive emails, ‘tweets’, and Facebook notifications all on their cell phones. This makes talking to others and forming relationships a near constant thing. Due to this idea of ‘ambient awareness’ it is now being stated that people can pick up emotions through texts or I.M’s, just as people have been picking up emotions through body language and tones. If this theory proves true, then it seems that there will soon be no need to even really see people at all when talking to them.



While this non-verbal communication probably will not end up being the only form of communication it is becoming extremely popular. This incessant online contact, as is stated in the article “I’m so Digitally Close to You”, is becoming a phenomenon. Micro-blogging, seen mostly in Twitter and Facebook statuses, is now starting to be the chief way we find out what is going on in others lives. Meeting and ‘hooking up’ with others online seems to be the main way anyone develops a relationship. The emphasis of face-to-face contact in modern culture is very minimal and with the development of even more new social mediums one is left to wonder, will seeing someone in person even be necessary to form a relationship in the future?