G.M. MCLUHAN: COMMUNICATION AS A MEANS SOCIALIZATION

Abstract

Background. The problems of specifics and transformations of social communication are updated in the modern conditions of the contradictory development of the multimedia communication system, which actively affects the processes of socialization. In modern reality, Internet tools often play a more significant role in socialization processes than traditional social agents. The Internet expands the possibilities for revealing the personality, but at the same time gives rise to the risks of socialization of young people. The authors of the article turn to a critical understanding of the concept of GM. McLuhan (1911-1980), Canadian communication technology theorist. The main works of G.M. McLuhan came out in the 60s. XX century, however, the ideas expressed in them are still in demand in world science.
 Purpose. The authors critically analyze the theory of communications by M. McLuhan, which gives grounds for conclusions about its modern research capabilities and, at the same time, about the gaps left by it, in understanding the processes of socialization of a person in continuous and diverse flows of communication.
 Methods. In the study, the authors rely on a philosophical and cultural approach, including techniques and methods of sociological analysis of communication, as well as an interdisciplinary approach.
 Results. As G.M. McLuhan rightly believed, communication processes are the necessary basis for the formation, maintenance and transformation of cultural phenomena and the person himself. The communication theory of G.M. McLuhan demonstrates the influence of technology on changing a person’s thinking, his consciousness, ability to perceive, mentality, lifestyle. Technical means of communication creating new languages of communication fulfill a revolutionary role in sociocultural dynamics in general and in the processes of socialization in particular, creating a universal environment for the formation of personality. At the same time, based on the analysis of the works of G.M. McLuhan, the limitations of a media-oriented approach are shown. The authors of the article demonstrate the advantage of philosophical, cultural and interdisciplinary approaches in domestic communicativism, based not on a technocratic, but on a humanistic dominant.
 Scope of results. The results obtained can be applied in the study of socio-cultural transformations and communication in the context of global challenges of our time, in the formation of research approaches to understanding the specifics and functions of modern socialization and communication processes.