Q: To what extent do messages have "a life of their own"?
I mean messages carry meaning, and with meaning purpose. A messages life depends on the person that created it. Also, the need of the audience will affect whether or not that message lives or dies. If the speaker delivers a message and it was not received in the manner that it was intended then for the speaker the message was not delivered but for the audience, in either way, a message was received.
I understand that messages cannot exist on their own, they require a carrier or a platform to travel either physically or digitally.
To say that a message “have a life of their own” says that it can exist on its own, but it cannot. It is something to perceive and receive not to exist on its own. Words are just words but when we input parts of ourselves then we add value to it. So the existence of the message lives with the sender but the life of the message is carried on by the receiver.
The only way to know if a message is received is by the response of the receiver. Do messages have a life of their own? It could depend on the technology their on also. For instance when a person chooses to go online to shop for exercise shorts. Soon that person is bombarded with advertisements from the store in regards to other options you may have missed. Messages exist as far as people have life and put forth energy and ideas into the world, yet without technology or other resources there is no relatability or not much spreadability.
Q: What role do humans and non-humans play in distribution and circulation?
The role that humans and non-humans play are those of carriers and creators of messages. It requires association through tools such as remixing a message or assembling a story, which adds life and meaning to their audience.
Messages aren't derived and distributed in a parallel form. Each person that presents an anticipated message acts as a hub, where ideas and conversations intersect to create and deliver the message. As humans communicate through writing, they create new pathways of thought pulling from different avenues of information from which they have exposure. The technologies we use today provide a platform for messages to travel.
In the reading, it stated that the mode is not separate from the message. This is similar to when a speaker chooses to speak on a topic at anytime. He/she is not a singular event, the speaker has multiple layers of influences some from previous upbringings, cultural influences or
even everyday experiences that reinforces their stance on an idea. This in turn will affect how that message is circulated and through which medium to send the message.
Human and non-humans are the force behind the message, they recreate, delegate and manipulate messages and in themselves are messages. People are like conversations, they are constantly learning and evolving as they are exposed to more information. So a message will continue to have life so as there are humans and technology to utilize the messages.