The Medium Is the Message Understanding Media:The Extensions of Man (1964); ● "The medium is the message."McLuhan's theory was that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not by the content delivered over the medium,but by the characteristics of the medium itself.McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as a clear demonstration of this concept.A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs,yet it is a medium that has a social effect;that is,a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness.He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content.McLuhan states that"a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence." More controversially,he postulated that content had little effect on society--in other words,it did not matter if television broadcasts children's shows or violent programming,to illustrate one example--the effect of television on society would be identical.He noted that all media have characteristics that engage the viewer in different ways;for instance,a passage in a book could be reread at will,but a movie had to be screened again in its entirety to study any individual part of it.Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964);  “The medium is the message." McLuhan's theory was that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not by the content delivered over the medium, but by the characteristics of the medium itself. McLuhan pointed to the light bulb as a clear demonstration of this concept. A light bulb does not have content in the way that a newspaper has articles or a television has programs, yet it is a medium that has a social effect; that is, a light bulb enables people to create spaces during nighttime that would otherwise be enveloped by darkness. He describes the light bulb as a medium without any content. McLuhan states that "a light bulb creates an environment by its mere presence.“  More controversially, he postulated that content had little effect on society –- in other words, it did not matter if television broadcasts children's shows or violent programming, to illustrate one example -– the effect of television on society would be identical. He noted that all media have characteristics that engage the viewer in different ways; for instance, a passage in a book could be reread at will, but a movie had to be screened again in its entirety to study any individual part of it. The Medium Is the Message