Media Ecology
Effects of our environment
Get Rachael Hooper’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
According to the Media Ecology Association, media ecology is defined as “the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs.” Milberry says, “in media ecology, a medium is a technology within which human nature grows, giving forms to its politics, ideologies and social interactions.” My interpretation of media ecology is simply the interplay between technology, media, the environment and humans.
As each factor of our being continues to develop; environmentally, technologically, economically and humanitarian, we are progressively dependent on one factor in order to assist or enhance another factor. On a global scale, we are defined by our environment. Just as technology develops and transforms, so too does its environment and human beings.
Media ecology is reshaping the ways in which we live our lives; it spans much further than just the basic development in technology, but it is ingrained in our existence as human beings. It is constantly growing and developing when society grows and develops both locally and globally. As human beings, we adapt or change when our environment changes. We are conformists by nature; it is natural to want to stay up to speed with the advancement of education and technology. So too is it natural for us to get bored with the ‘same thing’, our environment must change and develop in order to sustain us and in order for society as a whole to be intellectual and economical.
With media being the environment, its never-ending enhancement and capability to create new avenues for education is astonishing. Our brains are like a sponge, anything that is modern, interesting or vital for survival; we soak it all up. It’s scary to think that just over a decade ago wireless was invented. Just imagine what the future will bring!
