What Media?

Amongst a myriad of academic hyperbole, Deuze (2011), in his recent exploration of media theory raises some pretty fascinating points.

He suggests that "as media becomes pervasive and ubiquitous, forming the building blocks for our constant remix of the categories of everyday life (the public and the private, the local and the global, the individual and the collective), they become invisible." (Deuze 2011)

Ultimately, he suggests that Media is becoming invisible.

I personally struggled with this thought at first, but the more I contemplate it the more it seems to make sense.

In 1572, the greatest University library of the world (Queens College at Cambridge), had a mere 199 books in its entire catalog. Compare this to over 300,000 books being published every year today (Beck & Davenport 2001).

Printed literature is now such an everyday part of our lives, it's hard to imagine a time when books were hard to come by. In fact we really just take their existence for granted.

Essentially, the media that we now consume is becoming such an integral part of our everyday lives that it's becoming harder and harder to say that either could exist without the other. I barely even notice when I check my facebook on my iPhone these days. As time goes on, who knows? Maybe media really will be so deeply ingrained in our lives that it is invisible.


For some more thoughts on the topic check out Platform Nine and Three Quarters


References:
Beck, J. & Davenport, H. 2001. The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business. Boston: Harvard Business School Press

Deuze, M. 2011. Media Life in Media, Culture & Society. 2011 33: 137. DOI: 10.1177/0163443710386518