I’d never thought of the automobile as a media form before, but this article in the NY Times caught my eye:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/business/media/automotive-industry-ad-campaign-focuses-on-young-drivers.html?_r=0
It’s all about how the car makers are worried that today’s young people are waiting longer than ever to get driver’s licenses and that the automobile as the über-icon of independence is being replaced by the smart phone and the tablet. The car as social glue is giving way to the online revolution. The article notes, “The shift in attitudes is being spurred by technology, in that many younger consumers are more interested in the newest smartphone or tablet than in the newest sedan or T-top.”
So I guess the car was a form of social media before we had social media. Looked at this way, it makes perfect sense!
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About mediainmind
Education: BFA in Painting & Sculpture from California College of the Arts (Oakland); Executive MBA in Executive Management from the Peter F. Drucker & Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at the Claremont Graduate University (Claremont); MA and PhD in Media Psychology from the Fielding Graduate University (Santa Barbara).
Experience: Over 40 years experience in marketing, advertising, and public relations on the client and agency sides of the business; for-profit and nonprofit, as well as government.
Special Expertise: The interface between human behavior and the media. It's all about "media in mind."
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mediainmind 
April 3rd, 2013 at 7:04 am
I guess if you accept McLuhan’s definition of media, it most certainly is.
April 5th, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Indeed!