Three New Mediums

Marshall McLuhan proposed the idea that "the Medium is the Message," inferring that technology is the basis for our communication.  New developments are made daily and their impact on our society is based on how we choose to use them.  Three mediums that have enhanced the way that we communicate and have been innovative to our society are: BBMs (Blackberry Messages), Skype and Twitter.

1. BBM (Blackberry Message): 

Blackberry Messages consist of conversation between two (or even more) Blackberry users.  BBMs are an evolution of the text message because they are sent at a faster rate.  A feature of BBMs is that you can see if your message has been delivered and received.  BBMs also allow you to speak to multiple people at once using the conference option.  This medium allows for quick, convenient access to fellow Blackberry users and replaced the need for phone calls or instant messaging and is more efficient than text messaging.

2. Skype:

Skype is a form of video chatting that allows users to chat via webcam.  This medium allows people to communicate with anyone, anywhere on the globe.  Skype is utilized by all demographics ranging from businesses to relatives.  Skype is used for visual conversation, thus making it more personal than all forms of communication outside of face to face contact.  This is a revolutionary medium that allows for global commerce and has taken the place of conference calls and made business a more personal experience.  The message takes the place of less personal mediums such as phone calls or text messaging.

3. Twitter:

Twitter is a recent form of social media that allows users to update their status to inform their followers of their recent activity.  It is a social network medium that consists of messages that are referred to as tweets.  Twitter is made up of posts with a 140 character maximum and its users range from average people to celebrities.  Twitter can be accessed through multiple forms of mediums such as computers or blackberries and contains life updates, pictures and html.  Twitter is a more specialized version of a facebook statuses update and replaces mediums such as facebook and connects people all over the world of various different social statuses.