Blog Post #2

Williamscott Sorge

CCS 313

10/21/14

​Blog Post #2

​In McLuhan’s Understanding Media: The Extension of Man, McLuhan explains that technology is an extension of the self. This can be seen in early developments like the wheel, which was an extension of your feet and allowed people to transport places quicker. Much like this, the modern age has allowed for much more complex technological developments that extend different parts of the self. In the studies of television, the most significant development has been the online streaming of shows through programs such as Netflix, both allowing the extension of the viewers psych and personal interest.

​These streaming services make television more accessible for the viewer, granting them the agency to choose what they want to watch and when they desire to watch them.

Netflix’s use of a user’s instant queue allows subscribers to compile a list a personally selected programming, giving the user the freedom to browse a variety of content and make the conscious decision as to what they will watch and what interests them for future viewings. Netflix also gives the subscriber the ability to rate their chosen program based on what they thought of the film or show. Not only does this allow for Netflix to further understand you, but it then recommends programming based on your past choices and preferences, thus making an attempt to learn more about you, creating an extension of your psych and interests. Netflix as a streaming service also allows subscribers to watch not only from their television, but from their laptops and even mobile devices, both the laptop and mobile devices are already extensions of the self, customized to your own interests and connecting you to the world and other people. With this ability to connect to so many outside sources and content through the use of the internet, accessing Netflix at any point of the day through such devices further exemplifies it’s ability to give the viewer more agency and operate around the person’s preferred time, exemplifying how television, through the use of streaming, is more an extension of the self, as opposed to the traditional black box style in which the viewer was more an extension of the programming, forced to watch whatever was being shown.

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