Back to Orality

When the radio trend swept through the world in the early 20th century, it seemed almost reminiscent of the age of orality--the realm of philosophers like Plato, Socrates, and the Sophists. It was revolutionary in the sense that it shifted away from a mainly visual and literate culture back to the art of public speaking. In Douglas's article "The Zen of Listening," he comments that radio took America "back into the realms of preliteracy, into orality, to a mode of communication reliant on storytelling, listening, and group memory." The radio, like the invention of the written word, once again caused a major shift in society.

Douglas's article suggests that radio fostered a sense of community amongst its audiences more so than a book or a painting could. Americans across the country could tune in to a program, and know that there were thousands of other people listening to the same program at that moment. There is an undeniably sense of unity and commonality developed by this phenomenon. Still today, producers of entertainment try to capitalize on this community aspect of media. Television programs will try and get users to tweet and hashtag about their show so they can be connected to the rest of the audience. This was first developed with the development of the radio.