Communication: Social

2 and Cultural Forms

Chapter Overview

The purpose of this chapter is to convey the complex relationship between communication, society,
and culture and consider some of the social roles of media and mass communication. It opens with
defining several key terms—society, culture, and media—and goes on to consider the ways in which
communication and communication media are integral elements of the social and cultural fabric, as
well as key dimensions of politics, economics, and processes of identity formation.

The chapter then focuses on two Canadians, Harold Innis and Marshall McLuhan, who were the
first scholars to bring serious attention to the idea that the ways in which people communicate might
actually shape a society and its culture. In this context, it discusses how oral, literate, and various
modes of electronic communication may affect social development, processes, and structures. The
structures of different forms of these kinds of media are also examined, including prose and poetic
literary forms and broadcast, point-to-point, and network forms of electronic communication.

A central point to be made here is that the relationships between communication media and social
form are a key focus of communication studies. Human affairs cannot be divorced from the com-
munication system used to represent or discuss them, and the design of our communication systems
impinges on every element of our present and future lives. While ICTs have played an important
role in society, we must also be careful not to overemphasize their transformative effects, as this can
lead to an unquestioning acceptance of technological determinism. Analyzing the role of ICTs in
society can assist us in developing an informed view on the complex ways in which media and
communications affect social change and social action.

Related Websites

 Association of Canadian Advertisers

www.acaweb.ca/en

 Canadian Journal of Communication

www.cjc-online.ca

 MIT Center for Collective Intelligence

http://cci.mit.edu/

 Council of Canadians
www.canadians.org

 Harold Innis Research Foundation

Mass Communication in Canada, Eight Edition

© Oxford University Press Canada, 2016
 http://sites.utoronto.ca/hirf/

 “Indigenous Foundations: Oral Traditions,” UBC

http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/oral-traditions.html

 Coach House Institute

www.chi.utoronto.ca

 Secondlife
www.secondlife.com

 “Intangible Cultural Heritage,” UNESCO

www.unesco.org/culture/ich

 Wikileaks
www.wikileaks.org

Study Questions

1. The influence of communication is not confined to its capacity to transfer information. Explain.

2. Summarize the path-breaking writings of Marshall McLuhan and the characteristics he attributes
to oral societies, literate societies, and electronic societies.

3. In some senss, electronic audiovisual communication is the recreation of face-to-face communi-

cation in a fully visualized context conceived by the literate mind. Explain.

4. How do publicly owned broadcast institutions differ in their basic purpose and mission from
commercial or private broadcast institutions?

5. Define, in a few words for each, the roles played by owners, media professionals, advertisers,
politicians, interest groups, the legal system, and audience members in influencing the media.

6. Explain the various ways that “users” influence new media compared to the way the traditional
“audience” influences the mass media.

7. Compare and contrast the main features of oral, literate, and electronic societies.

8. Explain the significance of the passage from Plato’s Phaedrus that discusses the change from
oral to written modes of communication. How would the meaning of this passage be applied to
the shift from written to electronic forms of communication?

9. According to McLuhan, what are the main characteristics of the global village, and how does this
concept relate to electronic communication?

Mass Communication in Canada, Eight Edition

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10. What are some of the main social implications of living in a society that uses electronic forms of
communication?

11. Describe some of the main advantages and disadvantages of ICTs in society.

Mass Communication in Canada, Eight Edition

© Oxford University Press Canada, 2016