“The medium, or process, of our time—electric technology—is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life. It is forcing us to reconsider and reevaluate practically every thought, every action, and every institution formerly taken for granted.”
— Marshall McLuhan
When Marshall McLuhan wrote these words in 1967 television was the medium transforming communication. From our perspective, after fifty years of technological innovations, “The Medium is the Massage” remains thought provoking. Today, how and what we communicate has been altered in ways we rarely stop to notice. As the people who “make the Internet” let’s pause to take a look at the language of the web, inventory the current tool set, and analyze of the web’s most effective communicators.
A lot has changed since the first website went live on August 6, 1991. Though video and animation flourish within the medium the web’s primary mean of communication remains the written word. How well are we leveraging the web as a publishing platform. Are we truly writing for the web, are we leveraging the medium? How can we become better at speaking the language of the web? We’ll take a look at some examples of writers and publishers effectively leveraging the web’s language.
Though talk of 3D and VR often draws attention, what are the current communication tools of choice? As the people who design and build web publishing outlets what tools are we equipping content creators with? How well are content creators and technologists collaborating in creating effective messages for web audiences.
As programmers and designers what can we do to elevate communication?
Drupal was born as a collaboration platform. Then became a publishing platform that’s become a communication toolbox. What can we do to ellevate communication using Drupal.
- Inspire how we think about the web by looking at thinkers like Marshall McLuhan, James Burke, and others.
- Inspire how we think about the web by looking at thought provoking writers and designers.
- Look at examples where communication has been elevated by the medium of the web.
- Explore how Drupal can be used to leverage the language of the web.
- Designers and people who make the Internet
- Content creators