Mediation – Space

In The Doubling of Place, the author Shaun Moores takes a further step in analysing media in our every life, talking about the internet and telephone as well as radio and television. He also talks about space along with Scannell’s idea about time, bringing up the concept of being in two places at once. I personally support this argument because, although my family and friends are in several different countries, I am able to stay in such constant contact, using not only the telephone but also the internet, that I still feel included in their lives in an intimate way, and do not feel the gulf of distance so acutely. Thanks to modern media I am able to be elsewhere, while I am carrying on with my everyday routine.

Joshua Meyrowitz argues that ‘Electronic media affect us… not primarily through their content, but by changing the “situational geography” of social life’ (Meyrowitz 1985: 6 in Moores 2004: 22). Certainly making use of media we are able to take shortcuts, for example, making a call instead of writing a letter is a much faster and more immediate way to communicate, however Meyrowitz argues the fact that we lose the sense, or even the opportunity, of physical experiences, in this case, the trip to the post office or some event that could occur on the way.

Moores in his discourse about electronic media, time, space and social relationships presents three events in relation to ‘doubling of place’. Live broadcast events offer viewers the feeling of being at the place or being more involved with the situation. Bombarding broadcasts of celebrities lives, may cause some viewers to lose control emotionally and when a public event takes place their lives may get disrupted, resulting in an interruption of their routine.
The second account is about the internet as part of everyday live, through internet games like real-time virtual world, users take on different roles, genders, and places among other things. In this way they experience other lives in other places without leaving their normal physical place.
The last account addresses mobile phones, and the fact that most of us do not think twice about using our phones anywhere and anytime, we are frequently so engaged in conversations over the phone, we forget about our physical space.

Media takes place within us and our world in a very subtle way. How it will affect us, only time will tell.

Moores, Shaun. “The Doubling of Place: Electronic Media, Time Space Arrangements and Social Relationships.” In Couldry, Nick. And McCarthey, Anna., Eds. MediaSpace: Place, Scale and Culture in a Media Age. London: Routledge, 2004, 21-37.