McLuhan Tetrads and Social Media/Social Media Marketing

16Sep12

For those of us unfamiliar with Marshall McLuhan’s philosophies on the effects of media in society, here goes nothing. Not fully understanding what a “tetrad” was took some researching. What I found was really not that difficult to understand.

In its most simplest terms, a tetrad is a means of explaining the social processes underlying the adoption of a technology or medium by dividing its effects into four categories and displaying them simultaneously. Okay, still not quite understand? Put it this way, McLuhan’s tetrad (groups of four) asks four questions:

1) What does the medium enhance?

2) What does the medium obsolete?

3) What does the medium retrieve that had been obsolesced earlier?

4) What does the medium flip into when pushed to extremes?

First, there is enhancement. What does the medium amplify or intensify?

My wife is studying to become a nurse and is working closely with her aunt who has been an RN for roughly 15 years. She has an interest in telemedicine (use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance).

So enhancement in terms of telemedicine can make medical resources available to those in remote areas. It does indeed change the way that doctors and patients are able to interact by use of the internet

Secondly, there is obsolete. What drives the medium out being the “big thing”? It means the possibility of the end patients dying due to easily treatable illnesses or disease. What an incredible achievement that is.

Thirdly, there is retrieval. What is recovered for the medium that was lost? Making families an intricate part of in the advancement of medical care. There is not always a doctor available to speak with on the phone or connect with on the internet.

Lastly is the reversal. What does the medium flip into when pushed to its limits? It could mean the misdiagnosis of a patient due to lack of human interaction or limited involvement. Basically, making the health in some of those areas tolerable.

When the tetrad is broken down, it’s easy to see what can be achieved. It’s important to know that it can be applied to almost every aspect of technology. It is an important set of tools to find out what works and what won’t, in a matter of speaking.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  1 Comment