Marshall McLuhan - Predicting Social Media in 1967

[@Orignialsjohns34]

I wrote a paper on McLuhan in college on the medium is the message where no one agreed with his premise. And, now here we are.

[@olingraham-tb9bk]

At the time, people thought the Jetsons went back in time to meet the Flintons when in fact they went to the future.

[@scottconklin4116]

Holy Crap. This guy nailed it!

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

Apart from not naming it Un-Social Media.

[@TheNelster72]

Truly outstanding. For those born too late to know the eighties this would have been science fiction even then. To get this right in the sixties is truly visionary.

[@rezzer7918]

The Medium is the Message, man 🫰

[@NewsforthePoor]

This man is one of the most brilliant and fascinating of the 20th C

[@amitehseen]

Absolute genius

[@rayjr62]

He also talked about the loss of identity. Dr. McLuhan claimed we are returning back to the bi-cameral mind as well becoming collective and tribal, without any individual consciousness whatsoever. As we become closer (via the Information Age / Globalization) we become more tribal as we lose our identity. Our patience and tolerance for one another is severely tested in those narrow circumstances. I believe Dr. McLuhan referred to it as being a situation replete with "Arduous interfaces and Abrasive situations." And we become more violent, as he predicted. He claimed violence is merely a quest to regain one's identity. When you live out on the frontier, for example, you possess no identity. You are essentially a nobody. As a result you become very tough and quite bellicose, as you must prove to yourself ( as well as everyone else) that you are somebody. He claimed that identity is always accompanied by violence of some sort. Terrorists, Nationalists, Hijackers, etc...are people minus any identity.

[@DigitalLazarus]

Now this was a proper prediction.

[@TheBreezus]

I literally just read up on this guy and his ideas of hot and cold societies very very interesting information.

[@guidedbyvoices23]

Incredible..every detail

[@invisiblerevolution]

Wow..... SPOT ON!

[@Uarehere]

I remember hearing the buzzword "global village" 30 years ago at the advent of the world wide web. Turned out to be quite the cluster! 😂

[@stilllearning2855]

Damn.... he was right....what else did this guy predict??

[@rayjr62]

the loss of identity. As we become closer (via the Information Age) we become more tribal as we lose our identity. And we become more violent, as he predicted. He claimed violence is merely a quest to regain one's identity.

[@sekhmetnubian1020]

He is not predicting, he’s telling you.

[@anthonydinatale2030]

@@rayjr62 violence is down over the past 40 years....

[@rayjr62]

@@anthonydinatale2030 Please post a link proving your assertion. And as I had originally stated, these were Marshall McLuhan's words. Not mine.

[@420planttechguy]

@@anthonydinatale2030Bud, he didn't mean physical violence, he meant people like you, basically people that don't think things through, merely observe a set of information, and instantly jump to a point; such as trying to prove one wrong on social media or insulting others with very little fear due to online anonymity

[@sparkomatic]

So brilliant.

[@peterdabeater7406]

They are 40 years ahead from the rest of us

[@TheFantastipotamus]

He was not ahead, he was behind. The rest of us are merely looking at life through a rear view mirror.

[@chris-eq5nw]

This was truly prophetic!

[@dajuanmenzies1292]

Wow this is so deep

[@BugMateo]

Incredible... truly incredible

[@toussantlbisso]

They got tired of him Dropping science ! FR.

[@dulynoted2427]

We all live on the same planet. You better believe we aren't isolated from one another. Example: When the Amazon rainforest is completely destroyed, we are all going to be suffering tremendously. So yeah, We need to communicate.

[@TheFantastipotamus]

We need to dialogue. Communicating is the first form of violence. Dialogue involves listening to the other side, "two"-way. There's way too much communication happening and no meeting the other at all, you can see this in society

[@dulynoted2427]

@@TheFantastipotamus Makes sense. But, That's what communicating means. At the very least listening is part of it. I don't and will never rely on politicians to do what's asked of them. That's why it should never be discouraged to hold them to a never ending account. I believe every school should have a social worker, who specifically learns student on social interactions.

[@305youtuber]

he was on point 20 to 30 years before social media actually happened ✊😳 🤔

[@scottlette]

“As big as a planet, as petty as a circle of gossip”

[@andreasraab6056]

Sehr weitsichtig!

[@voncarlowitz3506]

Prophetic words..

[@shweyashweya]

Holy cow. He was right!!!

[@lauranicholls9421]

Wonder what the prognosis is? Thanks for sharing.

[@mjs6910]

Wow this is crazy how this guy saw the writing on the wall in 1967!!!! LIKE belshazzar!!!

[@LiClan]

Are you referring to the name given to Daniel when he was held captive?

[@chikarar7931]

Whoa...

[@Jameseditorofficial]

Wow!

[@na5794]

0:16 look how he catches himself when he’s about to say the word “computers.” That is quite odd, wouldn’t you think? Probably because computers as we know it weren’t actually commercialized until the 1980s. The same would go for cellphones or the internet or as it was known back then as the “DARPA-Net”

[@kennethjay4888]

no I think he catches himself saying instant electronic "communication" because he replaces it with "information movement" which sort of means the same thing, but is more impersonal that "communication"

[@monsieurlepenguin6602]

Logo got me here

[@RoundSparrow]

Predicted NSA / Edward Snowden, Putin Kremlin, etc.

[@IceManLikeGervin]

Game recognize power elite game...it's societal chess not checkers- conform, consume, obey

[@marshmallowbudgie]

someone possible only in Canada

[@drmantistoboggan2870]

Came here from pricemaster garage sale

[@Charlie-Em]

Do you have more Marshal McLuhan?

[@reelblack]

Not yet

[@techosarusrex]

Arc browser sizzle video used this

[@cuorefelino]

What he did not predict is that most people enjoy letting everybody else engage in their own business. It seems that this is in fact how people do feel alive.

[@rjwolf8873]

Interpersonally, we (particularly North America) have become more independent - I would agree with you there. But that is because we are concerned with everybody's business virtually. We care more about what the latest trends are on the opposite side of the planet than we do about if our neighbor, a few houses down, survived a stroke. And that's assuming we've even met them. We have developed deadly surface-level concern, and technology is what has enabled it.

[@cuorefelino]

@@rjwolf8873 I agree with you.

[@shway1]

because he wasn't talking about social media he was talking about traditional mass media

[@Humanity101-zp4sq]

How people satisfy their desire for judgement and 'fish-wifing'.

[@ElRayDelRio]

Dystopian Utopia 😮

[@Humanity101-zp4sq]

Its called Dystopia...

[@ElRayDelRio]

@Humanity101-zp4sq Liminal space of what was, and what can be

[@Humanity101-zp4sq]

@ Regardless, its still called dystopia... Your original comment is literally oxymoronic.

[@ElRayDelRio]

@Humanity101-zp4sq quit being ignorant. This is a portrayal of status quo and speculates that we're at a standstill as a society

[@ElRayDelRio]

@Humanity101-zp4sq your comment proves the status quo that we're at a standstill as a society

[@kellysmyth2337]

Alan watts predicted it as well

[@hiker64]

But no mention of cat videos.

[@reelblack]

Lol

[@TheFantastipotamus]

Actually there is. Look at his talks about the instant replay, hyperawareness, and seeing our environments for the first time as they really are.

[@onetruekeeper]

The Brian Oblivion of his time.

[@kennethjay4888]

I see nothing about this that suggests prediction. McLuhan was accurately describing the way things already were in '67. The Global Village was simply a comment on the present, not the future.

[@mikmop]

Lucky guess

[@Humanity101-zp4sq]

@@mikmop He was right about people disagreeing and becoming increasingly less tolerant and more critical though..

[@mikmop]

@Humanity101-zp4sq Yeah, I see your point. While social media in itself might have been predictable, the ramifications of that as you suggest were probably quite prophetic. Just as an aside, here's a link to an Australian Lamb advertisement that focuses on the negativity and divisiveness of online comments, and uses humor to highlight how people often argue fiercely about trivial matters, while encouraging Australians to come together in real life, to share their love of lamb BBQs. It's essentially saying: "get out of the comments section and onto the food plate." kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWalcoiOj96KrZIsi=YVM_8Hbcrl2zBdwc

[@juneyerr]

Ironic

[@TheFantastipotamus]

Reality is absurd

[@scottwwsi]

on the money.

[@robertmartinez4174]

but no one could predict social medias insanity.

[@Humanity101-zp4sq]

That is literally what he predicted.

[@robertmartinez4174]

@Humanity101-zp4sq what I actually meant was, the mass shootings and the political Cult's.

[@npcimknot958]

0:38 he predicted reddit

[@notreally2406]

And "now" was in 1993. And David Koresh was the angel of demarcation.

[@walkerpantera]

wowwww

[@ojtheviking]

Very impressive! I'll bet a lot of scientists and generally smart people like him have thought up and predicted all kinds of evolutionary steps in society and technology long before these things have come to fruition in today's society. And I think their ability to think ahead of their own time has helped shape society and technology into what it is today. For example, you don't need to look further than Star Trek to see lots of tiny technological predictions that have now become reality. And even though we still have a long way to go as a people, especially now in the Trump era, I still say that society in general is slowly shifting more and more towards equality. Remember, Star Trek also predicted that things had to get worse before they could get better. Maybe these are the worse days, with a horrible excuse for a president making the most hateful people in society feel validated and free to finally spread their hatred as much as they please. Maybe more of us will learn from this, motivating more of us to come together and do our part to make sure that such men will no longer be in the position of the kind of power they possess today. Smarter voting, more tolerance between people despite superficial differences, and as gain, more equality and understanding that we are all one. And most importantly: more love for one another.

[@jimmiethedemocrat9888]

@oldnative o what an incoherent rant

[@stevesandwichproductions1043]

He was right! The global village is horrible. When people had class, they shunned exposure and publicity. People were too respectable to have everything out there. Now people act like entertainment figures and celebrities. They don't want privacy. They post photos of what they eat, and soon, when they take a really good crap, they'll post toilet photos.

[@presence9745]

Shenanigans

[@TheFantastipotamus]

I think you miss the point and are reading his ideas with your diluted understanding

[@stevesandwichproductions1043]

@@TheFantastipotamus Diluted? You mean my understanding of McLuhan was changed or influenced by something? Like what, for instance? Why don't you just come out and say I don't understand McLuhan?

[@TheFantastipotamus]

@@stevesandwichproductions1043 I mean you're basically right and McLuhan is probably a guy who values class, respectability and privacy at his core. It just seemed you were reducing his ideas to pure nostalgia and being a luddite.

[@stevesandwichproductions1043]

@@TheFantastipotamus Oh, it "seemed" like that to you? Well thanks for wasting my time on what my comment seemed to you.

[@shanewalters4632]

Boy was this ever correct.

[@gregoryalberts2503]

That has always been the case: people wanting to know what others are thinking about, and how they are behaving. Social networking has just made that process more accessible, intrusive, and faster in acquiring. Electronics had nothing to do with starting this invasive attitude. And besides, in his book "Understanding Media:The Extensions of Man" McMcluhan writes ..."Since electric energy is independent of the place or kind of work-operation, it creates patterns of decentralization and diversity in the work to be done. This is a logic that appears plainly enough in the difference between firelight and electric light, for example. Persons grouped around a fire or candle for warmth or light are less able to pursue independent thoughts, or even tasks, than people supplied with electric light." Quite opposite of reality.

[@edithbannerman4]

@Hello there, how are you doing this blessed day?

[@mikmop]

Lucky guess

[@dulynoted2427]

What ever happened to love thy neighbor?

[@marilynchryssovergis95]

For the answer to that question, you have to read the rest of the Bible: 2 Timothy 3:1-3 New International Version 3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,

[@dulynoted2427]

@@marilynchryssovergis95 And these so called right wing Christians have proven to be just that

[@marilynchryssovergis95]

@@dulynoted2427 You are the one fulfilling the prediction of the use of social media, as described in the video. I simply answered your question about a scripture passage without demeaning anyone.

[@dulynoted2427]

@@marilynchryssovergis95 I was being facetious. The narrorartor is saying that being involved in each others lives, is somehow bad for the human race. We aren't enough even with all the technology we have at our disposal. And I was raised Roman catholic. I served as an altar boy and had been to a catholic grade school for 8 years. And when I say what I said about the fanatical christian right, I don't say it lightly, malice or any joy in it. The real Christians and the real followers of the good word aren't loud enough, leaving the void open to hate filled, bigoted and intolerant. Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds hate and Hate breeds violence. That is something that needs to be addressed by every tv evangelist, every priest and anyone who thinks they are doing right by their religion.

[@unnamedchannel1237]

Cat videos

[@TheHitlister]

Predictive programming 101

[@TheFantastipotamus]

Q confirms

[@LiClan]

Watt and Kealey were both highly influenced by McLuhan

[@mrblack6974]

Lol, nice.

[@GoodlyDragon-gt6hu]

WOW THAT WAS PRECIENT. Now let's figure out of he flagellated himself enough for being white so if he didn't we can posthumously cancel him. ;)

[@erapublicationsorg860]

Jesus christ smh.

[@gregoryalberts2503]

Just another yokel.

[@ajagoff]

Wow. Fuckin NAILED IT.

[@moosefactorymullet]

University of Manitoba

[@cv507]

but the vvillicht häth FräGile cännälz dönt id v?v

[@susanmessenger9052]

Wow!