# Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its ideas on how media shape the messages they carry, which they say remain true today. No critical comments were recorded.

## Why people recommend it

- Ideas remain relevant today (2 comments): "For it simultaneously explains to me; TikTok (quick consume-scroll-like-react-"create" dopamine hit cycles)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347490)) "the ideas from this book remain as true as ever" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46146902))
- Shows how media shape messages (2 comments): "every single medium of communication shapes the message it is trying to deliver" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48886131)) "For it simultaneously explains to me; TikTok (quick consume-scroll-like-react-"create" dopamine hit cycles)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47347490))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cuckoo-s-egg.md): 40 recommend
- [Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman](https://hackerapproved.com/p/amusing-ourselves-to-death.md): 36 recommend
- [The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/anxious-generation.md): 24 recommend
- [Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bullshit-jobs.md): 20 recommend
- [Enshittification by Cory Doctorow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/enshittification.md): 19 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0710018193?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780710018199) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan", https://hackerapproved.com/p/understanding-media/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).