I have written another mini research report on a communication theory as a college assignment. Enjoy.
The theory

Not all communication theories are professionally originated by academics of pure principles that strictly confine themselves with evidence-based rules. In the 1960s, there advanced a rather controversial but then widely-known theory known as Technological Determinism. This theory plainly states that technology, i.e. the media, shapes the way individuals think, feel and act and how societies organize themselves and operate (Wood, 2004).
Though the term ?Technological Determinism? already exists, this bold statement was made by Marshall McLuhan, which catapulted him into the spotlight through, obviously, the media. He sees the deterministic value in technology in the communication field, thus his ideologies were centered in that area. As communication technology evolves and advances, so too does human life is shaped and cultural changes take place. With his claims, he had glamorized the media.
However, this theory is not as well-accepted amongst the academics. Their argument is that there was not enough research and evidence to prove the far-fetched theory. In addition, the theory is thought to be hyperbolic, as it exaggerates, and excessively deterministic. Joseph Goguen (2001), states that the Technological Determinism theory is classified as a form of reductionism: a theory that reduces some class of phenomena to some (allegedly) simpler phenomena of another class.

The background

McLuhan has divided history into four media epochs in his theory: the tribal epoch, the literate epoch, the print epoch and the electronic epoch, the most recent. The conception of this theory occurred in the 1960s, when television was rising to become the deciding form of electronic media. This corresponds to the epoch that McLuhan had described, moving on from the telegram in 1850s to television the way it was in his time. By the end of the 1960s, millions and millions of television households appeared in the Western world.
It was the 1960s when the American Civil Rights Movement took place along with the immortal ?I have a dream? speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. Television had a significant hand in portraying the difficulties faced by southern blacks that led to that movement. Without the media, there would have been much less awareness of such acts of virtue. According to McLuhan, the dominant media of an era determine the bases of social organization; in this case, it was none other than television. In fact, television had made its way to 90% of households in the United States by 1962 (Wikipedia, 2006), indicating the breadth of influence of the particular medium.
Hence, the theorist claims that television had played a role in rearranging human societies, as distance became less of a barrier of communication among them. Through newscasts, people from one side of the world could learn of another?s political situations and occurrences. We are all members of a ?global village?, a term that McLuhan has coined. The world gradually became a smaller place, as lines of communication grew expansively.

The application

Though television still places itself among the world?s most widely influential forms of media today, new complex ones have surfaced in the past decade. New technologies have abandoned the linear form of thinking as hypertext capabilities allows for many sources to be linked to one another, making massive amounts information easily accessible. The immediacy of news, however, has its risks of authenticity as the speed the internet is capable of allows no time for checking. Also, one who is in touch with new communication technologies have tendencies to multitask: doing a few things at one time. This causes computer-savvy people to somewhat decrease in attention span, as images on computer screens shift continuously (Wood, 2004).
Those who embrace the Technological Determinism theory in the communication field might incorporate it into the influence of the internet which has proven to be the next big thing. Undoubtedly, it is currently the most advanced electronic media of the epoch, moving on from the single-directional properties of television. Not only can it transfer information across the globe, it is capable of enabling other transactions such as shopping and banking. This arising form of convenience for humans affects our lifestyles as we have less reason to leave the comfort of home; indirectly, such an effect supports the deterministic theory.
Also an advanced form of electronic media is mobile networks, though it is currently not as widely available and accepted as the internet. But as communication inventions continue to break boundaries, the potential for its growth cannot be denied. In the future, internet capabilities could fit into a mobile phone, allowing for much greater convenience and accessibility.

Conclusion

As simple or logical as they may be, deterministic theories may not be completely true explanations of how societies have developed across time. The human world is such that there are always multiple factors of what causes these communication-related phenomena to occur. It is essential that theorists make the effort to explore all angles of any given topic in their research.

References

Goguen, J. (2001) Technological Determinism. CSE 275: Social Aspects of Technology and Science. Retrieved March 16, 2006 from
http://www-cse.ucsd.edu/~goguen/courses/275f00/s2.html

Wikipedia contributors (2006). Martin Luther King, Jr.. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:05, March 14, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.&oldid=43678677.

Wikipedia contributors (2006). Television. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:19, March 13, 2006 from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Television&oldid=42956848.

Wood, J. T. (2004). Communication Theories in Action: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.