Media Ecology

Media Ecology is a theory concept that covers media, technology and communication and how they affect human environments, as-well as how they all rely on each other. It was first introduced in 1962 by Marshall McLuhan.

Lego Model

In this lego model we created an example of an ecology, we used a model of a coffee shop. In the coffee shop we had several elements that all relied on each-other:

• The coffee shop used the forest to get coffee beans
• The coffee beans were used to make coffee
• Any profits from the coffee shop went back to the forest

As you can see the entire system supported each other and if one element was not there, the whole ecosystem would fall apart, just like a media ecosystem.

Concept Diagram

I then applied this to media in the second photo. my concept map was focused on creators and how it was associated with the 7 other aspects, them being Government, Institutions, Social Media, Audience, Money, Tech, Distribution and Audience. For example, Institutions need to hire creators in order to make a profit. This will be theory will apply well with my magazine, as in order to see the most success out of it, I will need to consider all 8 aspects of the ecology, and will need to design my magazine so it fits in well with them. Examples of this would need to be considering the target audience and how it would be advertised, like TV adverts and radio adverts, or more modern advertisements such as using advertisements spaces on Facebook or Instagram.

The image seen below is the collective graph, showing how everything links together.