Decoding TikTok: A 1960s Visionary Steps Forth

In Washington, a bill proposing a TikTok ban is causing a stir among politicians, Silicon Valley executives, and the app's American users. TikTok, with its global user base exceeding a billion, is under scrutiny in the U.S. due to concerns over national security, free speech, and democracy's future.

Decades before Congress met to vote on a potential TikTok ban, a pivotal phone call connected Howard Luck Gossage, an innovative advertiser, with Marshall McLuhan, an obscure academic. Gossage, fascinated by McLuhan's theories on technology's societal impacts, offered him a chance at fame. This moment catapulted McLuhan to prominence in the 1960s.

McLuhan's theories were focused on media and technologies impact on society. His most widely-known analysis that "the medium is the message" feels eerily prophetic amidst the TikTok controversy. This theory posed that mediums like TV, radio and TikTok are as impactful as what is communicated on them. Each new medium alters our perceptions, interactions and evolution as a society.

TikTok's personalized content feeds highlight McLuhan's warnings, showing how technology can lead to a fragmented society. McLuhan theories suggested that mediums would become better at dividing people into echo chambers of like-minded views and would lead to mass misinformation. The debate over TikTok in Congress touches on these concerns, raising questions of how we are to navigate the complexities of technological progress while upholding the fundamental rights of free speech.

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As Congress faces pivotal choices regarding national policy, Marshall McLuhan's insights encourage the public to critically assess the impact of media through analytical frameworks. His concept of the tetrad, detailed in "Laws of Media," provides a tool for understanding the complexities of new media technologies. This method involves four questions to evaluate a medium's effects:

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1. What does the medium enhance or amplify?

2.What does the medium render obsolete or replace?.

3. What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?

4. What does the medium reverse or flip into when pushed to extremes?

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McLuhan used the tetrad in “The Global Village” to analyze the effects of global and instantaneous news cycles.

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1. What does it enhance? “Instantaneous diverse media transmission on a global basis.”

2. What does it obsolesce? “Erodes human ability to decode in real time.”

3. What does it retrieve? “Brings back Tower of Babel: group voice in ether.”

4. What does it reverse? “Reverses into loss of specialism: worldwide synesthesia.”

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As the debate around TikTok unfolds, we're reminded of the importance of critically evaluating the impact of new media on society, drawing on Marshall McLuhan's analytical approach. His tetrad model pushes us beyond superficial analysis, urging us to explore the broader consequences of digital platforms on personal freedom, cultural diversity, and public dialogue.

The ongoing discussions in Congress about TikTok reflect a broader debate on digital governance, emphasizing the need for our active involvement. Utilizing McLuhan's tools, we can peel back the layers of complexity within our digital era, understanding how media shapes our views, actions, and community sense.