BKK20503 MEDIA TECHNOLOGY &

SOCIETY
Chapter 1
Introduction
Communication: Mass and Other Forms
Media in the Changing World
 CONTENTS
• Introduction
• The Communication Process
• Communication Settings
• Characteristics of Media Organizations
• The Internet: Mass and Interpersonal Channel?
• Models for Studying Mass Communication
• Transition: Emerging Media Trends

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 What is communication?
• 126 different definitions for the word
“communication”.

• “Communication” derived from the Latin

word.

• “Communis” means “to make common”.

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 What is Communication?

• The term communication has many meanings, and

has been used to refer to interaction between
animals and machines as well as among people.
• Communication refers to the process of human
beings sharing messages.
• Communication refers to the processes by which
verbal and nonverbal messages are used to create
and share meaning.
• Communication is both a meaning based, creative
process, as well as a tool used to exchange
information.
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The Communication Process

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Basic process of Mass Communication
• Messages might be entertainment, information, or
persuasion; they might be verbal or visual, intentional
or unintentional.
• Messages might also have a different meaning to the
people sending them than they do to those who
receive them.
• Feedback: is defined as messages that return from the
receiver of a message to the source of that message.
• Noise: is defined as anything that interferes with the
communication process.
• These terms were originated by mathematicians
working on formulas for types of electronic
communication.
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 Types of Communication
• Intrapersonal communication
• Interpersonal communication
• Group and team communication
• Mass communication
• Public communication
• Organizational communication
• Intercultural communication

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 Three Communication Settings
• Interpersonal Communication
- refers to individuals interacting face-to-face, and includes
the study of intrapersonal communication, or thought
patterns that make up internal conversations we have with
ourselves.
• Machine-Assisted Interpersonal Communication
- Messages conveyed through a medium rather than
face-to-face.
• Mass Communication
- The process of using a mass medium to send messages
to large audiences for the purpose of informing,
entertaining or persuading.

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 Mass Communication
• Mass Communicators
• Mass Audience
• Mass Messages

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 Mass Media
• Print Media
• Electronic Media
• New Media

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Average Media Use

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 Characteristics Of Media Organizations
• Mass communication is produced by complex
and formal organizations
• These organizations have multiple gatekeepers
• Need a great deal of money to operate
• Exist to make a profit
• Highly competitive

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 The Internet: Mass And Interpersonal
Channel?
• Websites:
• The Web will become more important for
interpersonal and social functions, e.g. the
proliferation of social media.
• Experts have predicted that traditional mass
media content (TV, movies, books etc.) will
eventually be distributed mainly over the
Internet. Making the Net the single most
important channel of mass communication.

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 Model of Communication process
Various models, but common points:
• Sender / Source - encoding (e.g., words,
sentences)
• Receiver - decoding & interpreting
• Message – flexible and alterable
• Channel – electronic/print/etc
• Noise - interference
• Feedback – Immediate and direct

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Harold Laswell Model

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 Osgood & Schramm’s
Model of Communication

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Schramm’s Model Of Mass Communication

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An Internet Model of Mass Communication

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An Internet Model of Mass Communication

A new arrangement, allowing multiple levels of

communication:
• One-to-one
• One-to-many
• Few-to-few
• Many-to-many
• Messages not linear; content provided by
organizations and users.

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Time on the Internet

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 Transition: Emerging Media Trends
Audience Segmentation:
• Mass communication: Less mass, more
selective.
• Audience fractionalization or segmentation
• In 1960’s, 3 out of every adults reading
newspaper, today down to about one out 5.
• Less time available for media. They tend to
look for content geared to their special
interest.
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 Convergence
• Convergence means coming together or
uniting in common theme or focus.
1) Corporate Convergence: Companies acquire
assets extending range of activities.
2) Operational Convergence: Owners of several
media properties combine operations.
3) Device Convergence: One mechanism
contains functions of two or more devices e.g.
the iPhone and Xbox.
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 Increased Audience Control
• Audience members can control what they see
and hear, and when.
• Technological advances give more power to
consumers.
• More sources of information, including blogs
• More flexibility in consuming products
(download single track vs. buy full album)

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 Multiple Platforms
• A strategy making content available via a
number of different delivery methods to a
number of different receiving devices.
• Example: Music videos started on
cable/satellite networks, went to websites, to
iPods, to cell phones.

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 User-Generated Content
• User-generated content (peer production):
people share and collaborate on content.
• YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
Wikipedia
• Reflects Web 2.0
• Web 2.0 = communities, people, uploading
• Web 1.0 = companies, pages, downloading

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 Social Media
• Online communications that use special
techniques that involve participation,
conversation, sharing, collaboration, and
linkage.

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