Media Ecology

Abstract

Media ecology is a multidisciplinary field that studies the evolution, effects, and forms of environments. Media ecology is most often defined as both the study of media as environments and the study of environments – such as situations or contexts – as media . Scholars work within expansive definitions of media, ecology, and technology. Although “medium” is often conceptualized in terms of transportation or a pipeline and popularly refers to categories of “mass media,” a useful focus in media ecology scholarship is medium as an environment (→ Medium Theory). Media therefore include not only communication technologies or formats such as television, but also such entities as the brain and body, a lecture hall or galaxy, and languages, symbols, and → codes (→ Information and Communication Technology, Development of). Media ecologists study all types of technology, not just communication technologies, and often use the terms “media” and “technology” interchangeably. “Ecology,” too, encompasses a complex range of meanings for media ecologists, who draw on → systems theory to analyze the co‐evolution of the human organism and technologies. In addition, media ecologists are concerned with the general role of technology in society (→ Communication and Social Change: Research Methods).