Brittany Franaschouk Beyond Humans COLLAPSE Communication extends beyond humans in a multitude of ways. A few things to consider are the tools we are using to communicate, the environment that constitutes communication and the effects that go beyond any one individual to that of society. The medium plays a large role in communication as it is shapes the human experience, it is the content humans are consuming and it is its own language. The way the many types of media are structured affect the way humans see the world and then respond to their surroundings. Media, regardless of what it is, has an affect on both the individual and society at large, at least this is what Medium Theory tells us (Littlejohn et al, 2017). Marshall McLuhan said that media is an extension of our minds and thus the dominant media format of the time will skew history to that view (Littlejohn et al, 2017). The medium can also extend our perception, especially electronic media. It removes the structure of a specific moment or space, and expands to the globe and beyond, allowing for us to consume the content in a different space and a different time. Neil Postman’s ideas on media and ecology help to expound on our understanding of the environment of media, what that does to our perceptions and what we value. The example of digital media today and the need for instant gratification felt familiar; when we need to answer a question, are we patiently waiting for an answer or diligently seeking one out via earnest study, or do we immediately turn to Google or some other app on our phones and tablets? In James 5 we are reminded of the example of Job and his patience (James 5:11, KJV). I was always told growing up that ‘patience is a virtue’, and I mean always. In this fast paced world we live in it can be difficult to patiently wait for an answer, especially when we have been urgently seeking for an answer but it is not available through our everyday means of the internet. When thinking about content and effects, I immediately think of Tyree and Kirby’s study on ‘THOT’ and how it not only gained popularity in pop culture but how a sexual stereotype can become a part of our culture, as culture is a process (Langmia and Tyree, 2018). The more concepts like ‘THOT’ are used and popularized, they become normal and enter the vernacular of young, impressionable people. Rap is, as Tyree and Kirby note, ‘an extension of an oral heritage, which preserves the cultural past of African slaves’ and this should not be discounted as far as the ramifications to our overall culture and the stereotypes it promulgates (Langmia and Tyree, 2018). Natalia Levina and Manuel Arriaga’s idea about the online field and how the producers and consumers create power relations in the digital world is an example of how communication is no longer bound by humans. At one time, power relations were very much determined by physical size or other physical characteristics or abilities. Now, one can generate their own power capital via user created content. This manifests itself in foreign policy as well. Countries have accused America of cultural imperialism due to the pervasiveness of U.S. pop culture as well as the wide use of English around the globe (Simpson, 2017). Iran as well has argued that Western culture has infiltrated Iranian culture via clothing to literature (Ridgeon, 2016). With globalization and the digital age these accusations are even more poignant. I am reminded of Gerbner and the discussion on mainstreaming. With cultures being so heavily affected by one dominant culture, people are worried that the individual character that makes up their culture is being consumed. When one feels that they are being overtaken, it can be difficult to speak out against the coming tide, especially with people being able to be so vocal via digital media. This would fall under the spiral of silence theory that Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann came up with. Clement and Roulette developed a theoretical model that explains how public opinion can deinstitutionalize practices (Clemente and Roulet, 2015). References: Langmia, K., & Tyree, T. (2018). Social media?: Culture and Identity. Lexington Books. Littlejohn, S., Foss, Karen A., & Oetzel, John G. (2017). Theories of Human Communication (Eleventh ed.). Marco Clemente, & Thomas J. Roulet. (2015). Public Opinion as a Source ofDeinstitutionalization: A ‘Spiral of Silence’ Approach. The Academy of Management Review, 40(1), 96-114. Ridgeon, L. (2016). Ahmad Kasravi and “Pick-Axe Politics”: Neckties and Literature as Western Tools of Cultural Imperialism. Iran : Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, 54(1), 59-72. Simpson, W. (2017). An Instrumental Tool Held at Arm’s Length: English as a Vehicle of Cultural Imperialism in China. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 40(3), 333-348. 2 days ago Brittany Longoria The Medium, Nature, The Divine – Britt Longoria COLLAPSE Littlejohn, et al. (2017, 145) defines the medium of communication to imply the environment, the vessel of delivery, and as language used. Philosopher Marshall McLuhan wrote extensively on the power of communication medium. McLuhan examined how the same message delivered via newspaper, television, radio, and the Internet will not be the same when a receiver processes it in comparison if they had heard it firsthand from another person. Overall, face-to-face communication is the preference for understanding, however, with the creation, ritual, and saturation of new media and Web 2.0 in our lives, it seems that face-to-face communication is becoming more endangered. Understanding the medium alters the message, it is valuable to further research to find the impact’s intention. Two aspects of McLuhan’s ideas are reconsidered relevant to my further research about digital storytelling of hunting. First, individuals and cultures feel and react to the effects of the content of technology-based messages differently than face-to-face conversations. At this moment, there are many insights into the effects of social media on our making decisions, with younger generations being more influenced than older generations. Secondly, to understand that technology as the medium is the message is to understand our culture and its effect on our lives fully. From this perspective, increasing the public’s positive perception of hunting from a spiritual and sacred perspective, social media would be an excellent medium to implement traditional storytelling techniques to build broader support for hunting among younger generations. The medium as environment metaphor shapes humans relationship to experiences in reality and subconsciously. Tovar Cerulli, author and vegan-turned-hunter, describes the landscape of ‘environmental and wildlife conservation is in rapid transition: ecological, cultural, political, and fiscal’ (2020). This transition of environmental issues mirrors the transition of communication and human-disconnectedness. I found further investigating Environmental Communication very interesting and useful, relating to how people talk about nature changes how society reacts, uses, and values nature. However, I disagree with Littlejohn et al (2017, 190) description of conservationist and preservationists when describing them as two opposing human-centrism verse nature-centric worldviews. Relating to the Christian worldview, there are also two similar perspectives that are highlighted within the Bible. From a sustainable-use and conservationists view, Adam’s early purpose was to give care to the Garden of Eden; And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Genesis 2:15). From a preservationist Christian view, the Bible also emphasis is on stewardship, not ownership—that the earth remains the Lord’s (Psalms 24:1) and does not belong to its human inhabitants. With technology, the advent of screens being the intermediary vessel of our messages, the opportunity to see the Divine in each other is lost. The Medium and the Light is a collection of articles, letters, essays, and speeches by Marshall McLuhan, and reading it is no easy task. McLuhan’s spiritual beliefs infiltrate his media studies and vice versa about the church’s traditions and transformations of communication, just as my personal spirituality and life as a hunter will be a bias for my own work. McLuhan argues that modern technologies are changing people’s relationship to the church, ‘every new technology thus alters the human sensory bias creating new areas of perception and new areas of blindness’ (1999:70). The mission set forth will be to demonstrate to other social media influencers how best to utilize new media as the medium of choice for developing better was to share the sacred traditions and human-ness, rather than stereotypes, through individual storytelling techniques. References: Cerulli, T. 2020. Catalyzing Insights for Conservation. Clearwater Communications. https://tovarcerulli.com. Accessed February 3, 2021. Littlejohn, S. W., Foss, K. A., & Oetzel, J. G. 2017. Theories of human communication (11th ed.). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press. ISBN: 9781478634058. Pp 145. McLuhan, M. 1999. The medium and the light: Reflections on religion and media. Eugene, OR: Stoddart. ISBN: 9780415027960. Pp 70. Tags: digital communication organizational communication Strategic Communication Corporate Communication communication channels Intra organizational permissibility exchanging messages User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool’s honor code & terms of service.