Blog Post #5 - The Freedom Convoy & McLuhan's Medium Theory - By Sarah Humphreys

    The Freedom Convoy & McLuhan's Medium Theory - By Sarah Humphreys

    McLuhan's medium theory is the ideology of the ways media affects society, becoming an extension of the human senses. There is an emphasis on the importance of not only observing media forms but understanding how media disrupt tradition and reshape social life (Herman, 2022). Medium theory privileges the exploration of media environments and the human interactions they encourage, as well as the messages which a medium conveys. McLuhan created two categories of media forms, hot and cool media. These categories are used to classify the different privileges of each media form. Hot media has a high definition, engaging only a single sense, meaning there is less context to be interpreted by the audience. Hot media is seen to "spoon feed" (Herman, 2022), information to audiences, requiring less brain power. Whereas, cool media has a low definition, meaning the audience has more involvement in interpreting the media, demanding more brainpower to understand the media's objective. Cool media provides minimal detail, requiring the listener to fill in the information.

    Drawing from McLuhan's definitions of hot and cool media, I would argue that the Freedom Convoy is more of a cool media. The Freedom Convoy, which I will refer to as the convoy, was originally aimed to protest the mandate for cross-border truckers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. However, the convoy grew to become a more general irritation and disagreement with the Covid-19 restrictions. The convoy is heavily dependent on social media and as stated in Osman's reading, social media is seen as the "central nervous system of the convoy" (Osman, 2022). Social media platforms were utilized to create momentum for the political and social movement of the convoy (Osman, 2022), by connecting organizers, raising money, and forming a community. The advent of social media allowed for communication over distances, and the convoy specifically used TikTok and Facebook (Osman, 2022), to communicate and spread Covid-19 beliefs across large distances. I would argue that the convoy is an example of cool media, as it was possible due to the use of social media. Social media's role in the convoy allowed for far-right false claims to be spread across the internet (Lim, M, & Rigato, B, 2022), conspiracy theories were used to spread misinformation about Covid-19, these theories provided a simple narrative of Covid-19 when it is a complex crisis (Lim, M, & Rigato, B, 2022).

    In conclusion, I would argue McLuhan would analyze the Freedom convoy and its use of social media as cool media, as the convoy's social media spread of conspiracy theories and imprecise information about Covid-19 leaves audiences to fill in and interpret the information provided by the convoy ideology; requiring a high level of audience involvement. Due to a lack of evidence, cool media comes into play as convoy ideology is manipulated, and "tribalizes" (Herman, 2022) a group of people based on belief.


Discussion Questions

1. Do you believe there should be more government effort to censor social media misinformation?

2.  Do you think it is dangerous that convoy far-right protesters were releasing false claims that "vaccine mandates violate the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms" (Lim, M, & Rigato, B, 2022)? If so, why?

3. Do you agree with Lim and Rigato that the simplified narratives that convoy protesters shared on social media about Covid-19 hinder authentic scientific explanations regarding the virus? Do you think that this misinformation about Covid-19 going viral, (Lim, M, & Rigato, B, 2022) took away from researched information presented? 

References

Herman, A. (2022). CS304 Lecture: McLuhan's Medium Theory. Personal Collection of A. Herman, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON.

Lim, M, & Rigato, B. (2022, July 20). Close to home: The Canadian far right, covid-19 and Social Media. The Conversation.

Osman, L. (2022, Novemeber 29). Emergencies act inquiry studies fundamental rights and freedom rights and freedom stake in Protest. CBC News.

Osman, L. (2022, Novemeber 29). Social media tools were key to 'freedom convoy' protest, experts tells inquiry. CBC News.




Comments

  1. Maggie MerawDecember 16, 2022 at 4:16 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Maggie MerawDecember 16, 2022 at 4:22 PM

    Hey Sarah, great questions! The first question you gave really got me thinking.
    There are valid arguments on both sides of the question of whether the government should make greater efforts to censor misinformation online. On one hand, misinformation can have serious consequences, and it's vital to ensure people have access to accurate and reliable information. The public should be protected from individuals or groups spreading misinformation to manipulate public opinion.
    On the other hand, censorship can also have negative consequences. The idea of freedom of the press can be greatly affected by restricting the free flow of information. Also, it is sometimes difficult to tell what is misinformation and what is simply a difference in opinion. I believe there is also a risk that censorship could be abused or used to suppress viewpoints. Overall, the right to censor information has valid reasons, but ultimately, I believe that individuals should have the right to freely express their thoughts and ideas.

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