This document summarizes Marshall McLuhan's theory of "hot" and "cool" media and applies it to television and Twitter. It discusses how McLuhan viewed television as a cool medium that encourages passive consumption of content. However, with the rise of social media platforms like Twitter that allow real-time public discussions around television programming, viewers engagement and interaction with television content has increased, transforming television into a more interactive medium. The document analyzes how Twitter has changed the relationship between audiences and television by facilitating widespread conversations about shows.

1. McLuhan Meets
Twitter
The “message” of Twitter with television as a cool medium
16 December 2015
Lindsey O’Laughlin
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Syracuse University
This presentation was prepared for COM 600 taught by Professor Grygiel

2. Marshall McLuhan
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
1967

3. The Medium is the Message
“The ‘message’ of any medium or technology is the change of
scale or pace or pattern that it introduces to human affairs.”
McLuhan, Marshall (1967). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

4. Figure 1. Chicago
Marquee. (Warot, 2010)
Used with Permission.

5. Figure 2. Study desk at night. (Hare, 2011) Used with permission.

6. Media: Hot and Cold (Cool)
“A hot medium is one that extends one single sense in ‘high definition.’ High
definition is the state of being well filled with data… Hot media are, therefore, low in
participation, and cool media are high in participation or completion by the
audience.”
McLuhan, Marshall (1967). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

7. Marhsall McLuhan Speaks. (2012, Aug 28). Hot and Cool Media (1965)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3n65fa40JM]. Retrieved from http:
//youtube.com

8. Television + Twitter
“By disrupting the one-way relay of information, and making television party to a
vast, uncontrolled conversation, Twitter is working a profound change in our
relationship with the box.” (emphasis added)
Everett-Green, Robert. (2012, December 22). Social Network. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from www.
theglobeandmail.com

9. O’Laughlin, L (2015). @ScandalABC [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.
com/ScandalABC

10. #GOPDebate
● 2.4 million Tweets
● 522,220 were about Donald Trump
● Jeb and Donald spat inspired 19,200 Tweets in one moment: 10:19 p.m. ET
Lafferty, J. (2015, December 16). #GOPDebate: When Donald Trump Speaks, Twitter Roars. Retrieved
from http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/gopdebate-when-donald-trump-speaks-twitter-roars/631665

11. #GOPDebate
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @marcorubio [Twitter homepage].
Retrieved from https://twitter.com/marcorubio
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @HillaryClinton [Twitter homepage].
Retrieved from https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton

12. #GOPDebate
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @PFTompkins [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.
com/PFTompkins

13. #GOPDebate
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @pattonoswalt [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https:
//twitter.com/pattonoswalt

14. Takeaways
● McLuhan’s understanding of television as an interactive, “cool” medium has
come to fruition with the advent of Twitter
● The “message” of the Twitter + Television medium is the way it’s changed our
interaction, involvement and use of both media.

15. Reference List
Everett-Green, Robert. (2012, December 22). Social Network. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved from
www.theglobeandmail.com
Hare, A. 2011. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/allisonhare/5392074546/in/photolist-9dtMUw-8vBW7x-6Vrq6y-4JoEtj-
7kvBRX-8jGUUm-6AKadM-daQydD-fC86Ud-5SEsL5-4ZaAqH-5tofbX-iP5Ld-4cH3qJ-Q2tWq-6URkws-
a3F5vz-2iaKR8-4rNa7N-5MjggP-njXHbt-4JjrJX-8Y38cY-jpaoo-zHA1C-tFEW-9hcqqv-74jgr-9RK15A-
igFR4m-7Fwv3W-r1C-68wJvA-8bh1ww-bov2cY-kbyYt-rzyr-5G8WnZ-4CgDjh-5B1szo-6pbH7r-fM34Dh-
7uksrZ-q86s8N-8SGvZm-33BBUM-GkBrJ-5Jt6sr-hwc5Yk-tPfU
Lafferty, J. (2015, December 16). #GOPDebate: When Donald Trump Speaks, Twitter Roars. Retrieved from
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/gopdebate-when-donald-trump-speaks-twitter-roars/631665

16. Reference List
McLuhan, Marshall (1967). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @ScandalABC [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ScandalABC
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @marcorubio [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/marcorubio
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @HillaryClinton [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @PFTompkins [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/PFTompkins
O’Laughlin, L (2015). @pattonoswalt [Twitter homepage]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/pattonoswalt

17. Reference List
Warot, D. 2010. Retrieved from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/--mike--/6100824901/in/photolist-ai7jGe-oo8op9-Z5EZi-4QFjR8-
4QFk8k-oJ1kxs-bA4XvG-oKK7CS-bkxdAh-oJ1o8g-bJVqe4-aYST4B-8mmUT9-66M1gr-66RhL3-
5kzmQw-b3je6H-btPgM5-b4WT7c-bxMuTG-bABEaS-bpmSWL-bpmSS3-bq9TSd-7f7kKs-b7FRi2-
bKSvLK-4axR45-4bt6KQ-7J9dN4-4Bm4je-8miF5X-8mmX7u-8mn1KG-8miV7B-8miGYF-2kZrmj-
328Fys-2Ja51w-3e9twt-7fbw21-28VaUn-9fbBPh-6Apqy7-9ceQfa-7iM85h-5kv7eX-5DSL5a-aznE8H-
2yuAwj