Media Ecology and its Multi Dimensional Effect- A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Media Ecology is study of complex communication systems as environments. Media ecologists are interested in the interactions of communications media, technology, technique, and processes with human feelings, thoughts, values, and behaviour. Ecology implies the study of environments: their structure, content, and impact on people and media environments; the specifications are more often implicit and informal, half concealed by our assumption that what we are dealing with is not an environment but merely a machine. Media Ecology tries to find out what roles media forces us to play, the media structure what we are seeing, why media make us feel and act as we do. An ecological perspective instead views the human as always being situated within both environmental and technical networks, and contends that an analysis of the human must not proceed from an abstract essence, such as the concept of the soul or free will. An ecological perspective instead views the human as always being situated within both environmental and technical networks, and contends that an analysis of the human must not proceed from an abstract essence, such as the concept of the soul or free will, but instead should compose an investigation into the networks in which humanity is situated. McLuhan saw that media change the way we live and who we are. McLuhan gave Media Ecology a centre of gravity, a moral compass. Neil Postman, who wisely created Media Ecology in so much of McLuhan’s image, was the one most responsible for our focus on media, technology, process, and structure, rather than content. This paper analyses the different dimensional effects of Media Ecology and the own personal interpretation of the author himself.