Marshall McLuhan (1911 – 1980) was an important sociologist and philosopher, one of the leading exponents of the Toronto School together with WJ Ong. McLuhan was one of the first to define the influence of technology and, more generally, of the means of communication on the mental structure of the individual in each particular historical era. In “ The Media ” (1964), he understood that it is important to study the media not so much for the content they convey, but on the basis of the system with which they carry out communication. This radically transformed the way of conceiving such tools, incorporating the end itself into the means. Famous, in this regard, is the assertion according to which “ the medium is the message ”.
The Ego between Mass Media and Social Networks
Starting from this premise it is possible to extend the reflection on the dynamics of today's hyper-connected society and on the effect that current means of communication have on theEgo. From mainstream and remaining within the context of the jet set world, the qualitative leap achieved by systems such as the social networks, who themselves manufacture mass stars, as in the case of the an influencer, or at least significantly amplify the reach of television, film, and pop culture characters. Translating the strong hold that "social media" is having on reality, from the world of entertainment to the private sphere, how can we fail to notice the overwhelming amount of data that, whether in text, photographic, or video form, celebrates the lives of millions of anonymous individuals minute by minute. A true form of "addiction" due to the constant solicitation of the will to personal exhibitionWe witness an avalanche of daily Selfie, photographs, posts and stories of all kinds, immortalising any fact, any event, even the most insignificant, or even worse, unpleasant to the public eye.
Counterculture and counterinformation
The effects of the media on the ego are also found in the world of crop and information. How can we fail to notice the narcissism of some of the industry's leading figures, which has now reached pathological levels? Rather than simply disseminating their knowledge, these figures, with a certain degree of personal pride, have become veritable TV talk show stars. This also includes all those who in recent years have rightfully earned a reputation as prominent figures in the world of counter information and countercultureThis is the case of blogger and the so-called network guru, who, by carving out a space for themselves outside of mainstream thought, also suffer the hold that the media have on the Ego, sometimes generating contradictions between the world they oppose and the one they are in one way or another helping to create.
Unconscious sphere
This last point of the argument is crucial to understanding the essentially technical, objective, and "non-neutral" mechanism embodied by the media and technology more generally. This multi-level mechanism directs the penetration of content and messages of all kinds, starting with subliminal ones, into the unconscious sphere , and is a subject of debate among leading figures in sociology and the communications world. It is, therefore, a mechanism that affects everyone, regardless of personality, status, ideas, or "worldview."
Robert Siconolfi
