Chapter 4 – Evaluating Messages and Images
Lesson 1 – What is Message?
Message
 Gives information and ideas to the intended receiver or
audience
 - Information conveyed by words, symbols, and signs
(speech or writing)
Examples and Observation:
Verbal Content- written or spoken words, sign language, email,
text messages, phone calls,
snail mail.
Nonverbal Content- behavior beyond words, body movement,
gestures, eye contact, touch.
Communicating Messages
 Communication is only effective if the message is
understood.
The Message in a Rhetorical Act:
Rhetoric- a process in which people influence or motivate each
other through symbols, regardless of the intent of the source.
Intentional- given to overcome challenges in a given situation or
issue.
Messages in Classical Rhetoric
A rhetorical message consists of effective use of logical, ethical,
and pathetic proof.
Messages in the Media
A well-defined message must be direct and concise; and it must
define the issues on your own terms and in your own words.
Purpose of Message
 Informative Messages- convey information, directions,
codes, processes, and procedures.
 Persuasive Messages- convince another person to do
something or to take a specific action.
 Goodwill Messages- show kindness, friendliness, gratitude,
regret, sympathy, appreciation, congratulations, and
invitations.
Lesson 2 - The Reader and the Audience
What do we as readers?
Readers: He/she reads and provides the interpretations of
the text/reading material (books, newspaper,
or magazine)
Interpretation of text- is done through seeing
relationships of the elements presented.
Reading Comprehension: It is a process that involves
knowledge, experiences, and skills that allow an
individual to know and understand the text being read.
“We should seek to understand various perspectives and
cultures through READING and
LISTENING, to communicate effectively with people of
different backgrounds.”
What do we do with messages?
-Messages can come from different materials such as
books, newspapers, journals and many others.
-Messages can be evaluated by readers in different ways;
hence, they begin to have different levels of
reading comprehension.
Interpretations can be different from one another due to
the differences in how messages are
presented.
Factors that affect our interpretations to various texts:
social environment, home environment, and cultural
environment.
Lesson 3 - Ways used to convey messages from various
texts read
Here are the different ways by which we interpret
messages from various texts:
1. By using illustrations and pictures
2. By looking at images as symbols
3. By telling stories (often observed in social media)
4. By using visual narratives
CHAPTER 5: Communication and Technology
Lesson 3: Online Communication
1. Screen Names
 Identity development is accomplished in part through
the selection of screen names which are frequently
selected when participating in chat rooms but are also
evident when playing games, uploading videos,
leaving online comments and evaluations, and even
selling items online.
 People may select a screen name based on genuine
characteristics as a natural extension of the self.
2. E-mail Addresses
 Also connected to identity construction.
 Has three main parts (all of which can convey
personal information to others)
a. the username – sometimes the person’s screen name. It
comes before the @ symbol.
b. the domain name – comes immediately after the @
symbol.
c. the top-level name – follows the dot (.). Such codes
as .edu, .gov, .mil, .org, etc.
Online Content Creation and Identity
The Internet has become both an instrument and a site for
self-expression, especially for younger generations. Some
of them are:
 Personal Web Pages and Blog – in which the creator
discloses only the information he or she wishes –
allow for the selective expression of the self and the
performance of identity. These sites may be devoted
to specific aspects of the self, such as activities
involving people, relationships, and interests, or they
may display multiple components of the self.
 Social Networking- Sites such as MySpace, Twitter,
Instagram, and Facebook, allow people to connect with
friends, families, and others in an existing social network
while establishing new connections and forming
relationships with people from around the world.
CHAPTER 5 – COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Lesson 4 – Mediated Communication and Its Impact
on Personal Relationship
1. Cell phones and Personal Relationships
 Cell phones have come to represent constant
connection to those who possess your number, and
 how freely people give out their cell phone numbers
varies.
 Giving or denying someone access to your cell phone
number establishes both the boundaries and the
degree of closeness desired and expected within the
relationship.
2. Constant Connection and Availability
 Connection and availability are fully established when
calls are actually made and text messages are sent.
Connecting with another person re-establishes the
existence and importance of the relationship,
confirming for both parties its existence and value in
their lives.
3. Shared Experience
 Shared experience can be derived from the use of cell
phones. Especially when people correspond through
text messages, the engage in the use of the same
technology.
CHARACTERISTICS OF ONLINE COMMUNICATION
1. All text-based interactions- is lack of nonverbal cues
available to help determine meaning. Nonverbal
communication, such as vocalics and kinesics, and is
incredibly important when crafting and interpreting
messages.
2. Asynchronous Communication- containg a slight or
prolonged delay, the people involved in the
communication process must alternate between sending
and receiving. The asynchronous nature of online
communication provides more time to consider the
messages of others and to formulate messages.
Personal Relationship and Social Networks
 Among the common fears associated with the
Internet is that it will diminish social interaction and
 Online Communication enables people to maintain
existing relationships.lead to disconnection with from
social networks.
 Online Communication appears to supplement rather
than replace traditional forms of interaction. It is
associated with greater contact with those in social
networks.
 Online Communication is dramatically changing the
construction and nature of social networks.
CHAPTER 5 – COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Lesson 5 – Competence and Challenges in Mediated
Communication
1. Learner Messages
 Social scientists use the term richness to describe the
abundance of nonverbal cues that add clarity to a
verbal messages.
 Face-to-face communication is rich because it
abounds with nonverbal cues that give
communicators cues about meanings of another’s
words and offer hints about their feelings.
2. Disinhibition
 Sooner or later most of us speak before we think,
blurting out remarks that embarrass ourselves and
offend others.
 The tendency to transmit uncensored messages can
be especially great in online communication, where
we don’t see, hear, or sometimes even know the
target of our remarks.
3. Permanence
 Common decency aside, the risk of hostile e-messages
– or any inappropriate mediated messages – is their
permanence.
 It can be bad enough to blurt out a private thought or
lash out in person, but there is no permanent record
of your indiscretion.
SOCIAL MEDIA ETIQUETTE: What’s Safe to Share on Social
Networks? By Scott Steinberg
1. Sharing extremely-opinionated viewpoints can be
lightning rod online.
2. Posting embarrassing, revealing, or negative photos of
yourself should be avoided at all costs.
3. Never post photos of others without their express
opinion.
4. Relationship or personal drama is best kept private. If
you cannot resist the urge to share, do so sparingly – and
in the most vague, unspecific terms possible.
5. As a rule of thumb, uncomfortable or revealing personal
information, i.e. details of your struggles with
psychological issues or relatives’ fading health, should be
share sparingly.
6. Never share intimate personal details including
birthdates, phone numbers, address, schools, or
hometowns online to minimize risks of crime, vandalism or
identity theft.
7. Avoid posting on social networks unless you have a tight
grasp over your privacy settings, and are completely
comfortable with the group of online friends that your
updates will be shared with.
Tone of Voice and Attitude
1. Professionalism is imperative
2. Politeness and respect are vital
3. Avoid bad-mouthing other users at it well negatively
impact your image and casual bystanders may judge you
based on these actions.
4. Maintain a positive tone and attitude
5. Bragging and self-aggrandizing statements should be
avoided.
6. Avoid using vulgar language and making derogatory
remarks
7. Demanding others to share your status updates,
projects, thoughts, or ideas is inappropriate.
8. Reserve confidential discussions for private message
threads or, better yet, phone calls, emails, or other venues
where interactions aren’t recorder in perpetuity online.
9. Consider how posts will be read and interpreted before
sending.
10. Poor spelling, punctuations, grammar and choice of
words can reflect equally poorly upon the individual –
proofread communications before sending.
 a. Facsimile (faxes) – are documents that have been transmitted
electronically over the telephone lines.
Being a Responsible User Electronic mail (e-mail) – it allows the communicators to send
1. Use privacy settings to limit who can view your posts and respond to one another’s written messages via computer.
and shares.
2. When asking someone you don’t know to be your
friend, send a short message explaining who you are and
why you’re attempting to contact them.
3. You reserve the exclusive right, and it is wholly
appropriate to decline friend requests from strangers.
4. Realize that everything posted online lives on the
Internet permanently, and may be available for public
viewing.
5. Privacy and personal comfort are paramount. At no
point should you feel compelled to response to messages
or queries from people you don’t know.

CHAPTER 5 – COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Lesson 6 – Choosing the Optimal Communication Channel

FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION
 It comes in many forms. Some are one to-one meetings,
either scheduled or spur at the moment.
 Others involve small groups of people, gathering
spontaneously or in formal meetings.
 Whatever the setting and the number of people, all types
of face-to-face communication possess the same qualities.

Advantages of Face-to-Face Communication

1. Speed – there is no time lag between transmission of a
message and its reception
2. Control – you have much more command over the receiver’s
attention
3. Personal Quality – relationship the communicators develop
can help solve problems that might have been more difficult
when handled at a distance.

TELECONFERENCING
 Billed by its promoters as the next best thing to meeting in
person, since it allows participants in two or more locations
to see and speak with each other.
 Most teleconferencing required elaborate studios at each
location, which made the technology unaffordable for all.

TELEPHONE AND VOICE MAIL

 Telephone conversations lacks the visual feedback that
often reveals how your message is getting across. But still
telephone still communicates vocal cues such as tone of
voice, pauses, interruptions, pitch, and rate.
 Telephone conversations also make it harder to hold the
attention of your listener.
 For instance, all the fingernail cleaning and paper-clip
sculpting you have done while unsuspecting speakers have
rattled on.

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
 It comes in a variety of forms. Letters, memos, bulletins,
and reports are familiar fixtures in almost everybody’s
career.
 Written messages have a different set of advantages and
drawbacks than their spoken counterparts have. Unlike
speech, written communication is permanent. Once your
words are down on paper, they are saved for future
reference, either to your delight or to your undying
embarrassment.