McLuhan’s Global Village, Still Relevant Today
The term ‘global village’, a theory originally linked with communication theorist Marshall McLuhan in many of his prevalent books such as Understanding Media (1964) and War and Peace in the Global Village (1968). McLuhan explains in his book War and Peace in the Global Village that due to the impeding growth and use in technology, cultures around the world are decreasing as well as expanding, as the ability to share and connect with one another is constantly progressing, making it almost like a part of us that we cannot live without. (McLuhan, Fiore & Agel 1968)
“Ours is a brand-new world of all-at-once-ness.’Time’ has ceased, ‘space’ has vanished. We now live in a ‘global village’…a simultaneous happening. Information pours upon us, instantaneously and continuously. As soon as information is acquired, it is very rapidly replaced by still newer information”. (The Medium is the Massage, 1967, p. 63)
McLuhan wrote the above in 1967, fifty years ago, and components of his theories are still very relevant today.
McLuhan’s compares the global village to the central nervous system explaining that society is interconnected by the influence of electronic technology (1967) and this concept is unquestionably still relevant, even though the media is much more immediate and constant than fifty years ago. For example, we receive news in real time, (rather than waiting for the 6pm news) and we can even communicate with nations on the other side of the world from our phones, our laptops and now even our watches, we have hundreds of apps and websites dedicated to sharing and bringing information to one another. What once was broadcasted on television is now uploaded on YouTube, shared on Facebook or streamed live from online news websites.
The emergence of the Internet has influenced the global village, especially as we rely heavily on it due to the characteristics of electronic technology. McLuhan’s concepts are still highly relevant in that we are constantly surrounded by electronic technology that we do not even apprehend our reliance towards it, making it almost like a part of us.
For example, 95% of adolescents in The United States have access to the Internet in their homes. This is an indication that the electronic technology will continue to be part of us as the adolescences don’t know a world without it. Even though we may think it is already at that point presently, it will continue to be more pervasive as long as future generations continue to be highly depend on electronic technology
References:
McLuhan, M., Fiore, Q, & Agel, J 1968, War and peace in the global village, Bantam books, New York.
Mc Luhan, M., Fiore, Q, & Agel, J 1967, The medium is the massage, Bantam Books, New York.
Madden, Mary, et al. Teens and technology 2013. Washington, DC: Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2013. Available from: https://www.ambroseinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Pew-Res-Teens-Tech-2013.pdf [28 July 2015]
