Blog Post 5: The Freedom Convoy and Hot and Cool Media -Maggie

The chosen discussion for this week revolves around the Freedom Convoy, which occurred this past year involving citizens who protested against the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Protests were held in Ottawa by citizens and vehicles expressing their frustration with the restrictions imposed during the pandemic, specifically the vaccination mandate for truckers. 

I feel that McLuhan would most likely consider the convoy itself to be cool media, as it heavily relied on audience participation and required active engagement from Canadian citizens. Social media was also heavily utilized in this convoy, with posts, tweets, and other online platforms being used as primary tools. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram gave voices to the convoy communities, amplifying their messages and offering an interactive and participatory platform to share stories and experiences. According to the articles, the convoy used social media platforms to further create these communities and "mobilize action." This would fall under cool media since these communities did not present high-quality information derived from produced data and relied heavily on user participation and discussion around the claims made by convoy members and communities. Overall, through social media, users gained information and formed opinions through multiple senses (such as sight, visual, and auto) regarding the convoy. 

I do believe that the many articles surrounding the convoy are hot media since they provide detailed descriptions of the convoy's goals, what happened during the protests, and the overall outcome. This would include articles made by news corporations. Canadian citizens have access to many sources (such as the sources given to us) that provide highly detailed descriptions and plenty of information, leaving little to be interpreted regarding what occurred during the convoy and the reasoning as to why. There is a greater emphasis on one sense (sight), and the user does not have to interact with the producers, as they are provided with all the information through a narrative structure. Therefore, I believe the articles written about the convoy can be considered hot media.

Some discussion questions I have include;

  1. Do you think there are more benefits or drawbacks when utilizing social media as a tool during protests and convoys?
  2. How has the rise of social media impacted the effectiveness of protests?
  3. How did different protest movements, such as Black Lives Matter and the Women's March, utilize hot and cool media?

 

Comments

  1. Megan YamamotoDecember 13, 2022 at 11:04 AM

    Hi Maggie, I agree that the Freedom Convoy could primarily be seen as a form of cool media due to the excessive amounts of engagement and participation it required. In response to your first question I think there are both drawbacks and benefits to utilizing social media as a tool for protests. The benefit of using social media is that it's easy to spread the word quickly and connect with a mass audience very quickly. However, this could also be a drawback when the information being spread is false. For your second question I would say that social media has impacted the effectiveness of protests in the sense that there are more and more individuals that are sharing the message online which spreads the word a lot quicker than simply have news broadcasts. I think social media has also affected the effectiveness of protests because people can use social media to show what is really happening on the ground versus what's framed by the big media news outlets on TV.

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  2. KeenanDecember 13, 2022 at 11:42 AM

    Hi Maggie, That is an Interesting post and great discussion questions; I agree with you that the convoy is a better example of excellent media in terms of its social media presence and use. I am usually against the benefits of social media in any situation. Still, when it comes to protesting, I think it can be both good and evil and solely depends on the nature of the protest. Depending on how big a protest gets, you're always going to find people who do not have the ethical and good intentions that of movement stands for but instead jump at any opportunity to voice their opinions. However, I look at older movements such as The Occupy Wall Street movement, as I mentioned in another discussion which needed help garnering a prolonged impact without social media, as it was not the all-encompassing network it is today back in 2011. So it did not have that nervous system that you mentioned to help it connect and make it impact on society. I think it's essential not to be satisfied with protesting infringements on civil rights based on verified information. The reliance on fringe politics in the promotion of conspiracy is one of the reasons why the Canadian government did not negotiate with the tactics of the convoy. Great post hope you have a great next semester.

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