Applying the McLuhan Tetrad (Laws of Media) to Visual space and Retribalization

Applying the McLuhan Tetrad (Laws of Media) to Visual space and Retribalization
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#28: Retribalization
Tetrad Description Enhances Amplifies and enhances solitary consumption, enhances media convergence, global village, and decentralization.Retrieves Tribal emotions, chaos, writing and correspondence, and group participation which were initially divorced by print mediaObsoletes Detribalization, print media, print monopolies, and single-source propagandaFlips into or reverses It flips into isolation, information overload, and obsession with data.Over the years, people adjusted to the disruptions brought about by external settlers and innovation through a process known as “detribalization” (McLuhan 1964). McLuhan argues that man suffered the same fate(detribalization) with the onset of print media/press. This was because people stopped relying on communities or cultural structures to convey news but instead opted for print media that triggered solitary consumption of information. But while print media detribalized man, the flip of print media into electronic media activated retribalization. Unlike print media, electronic media reconstituted the oral tradition and created a shift away from the print paradigm (Islas, 2016). Electronic media created a global village where concepts of space and time were overcome. As a result, electronic media recreated a new world where people engaged in tribal emotions, initially divorced by print media. With electronic media, people communicated regardless of geographical or time limitations. Electronic media typically offered a multisensory view of the world not initially captured by print media.
Retribalization brought unity in the once divisive world by creating a global village. Ideally, electronic media fosters a greater sense of oneness and integration. Overall, the exponential expansion of communication channels and technologies enabled global connection, such that some cultures that were once seen as exotic are now part of the wider electronic media (McLuhan, 1975). Retribalization played a significant role in making print media obsolete, increasing awareness of people’s differences, and explosive innovation due to increased creativity. Also, increased connectedness r...