Should I Be Studying and Using Mediated Communication?

Many of the reasons for studying interpersonal forms of communication are also relevant to the study of mediated communication. Perhaps the most important reason is the by understanding the process of mediated communication, you will learn to think critically about the messages the media send us. You will become a more thoughtful media consumer. As a consumer of the media and as a citizen of a world in which technology seems to be bringing people closer together, your responsibility is to understand how the media function of mediated communication, you can begin to recognize the significance of the media and the role they play in shaping your understanding of the world.

Beyond becoming a critical consumer of mediated messages, we also produce mediated communication. Sending an e-mail message, creating a web page, and posting to an online chat room or discussion board are all examples of mediated communication. For decades textbooks used in introductory communication courses have treated mediated communication as something we listen to, watch, or read all messages produced by other people. The Internet has forced all of us to change our assumptions about mediated communication. Today all of us have the potential simultaneously to be consumers and producers of mediated messages. Thus a second reason to study mediated communication is to become a more thoughtful producer of mediated messages.

So what is Mediated Communication? Mediated communication is more than just radio, television, and newspapers. Mediated communication is the use of electronic messages to create meaning. Within mediated communication we make the distinction between mass communication and computer-mediated communication.

Mass communication is a process in which professional communicators use technology to share messages over great distances to influence large audiences. In mass communication a professional communicator is the source - someone who shares information, ideas, or attitudes with someone else. The source might be a television messages are transmitted via cable and satellite systems, and printed messages are transmitted via printing presses, computers, and, increasingly, satellite. The message is the meaning the source attempts to share with another person. In mass communication the large audience comprises the receivers, the people who are the intended recipients of the message. Occasionally, a receiver of the message will send feedback to the source, that is, a response that allows the source to determine if the message was correctly understood. In mass communication feedback can be conveyed through a letter to the editor, and e-mail to your cable provider, or a telephone call to a television station.

As you can surmise from this description of mass communication, this form of mediated communication is linear in nature. That is, communication flows primarily from the sender to the receiver with little or no feedback from the receiver to the sender. Here we make a distinction between mass communication and computer mediated communication.

Computer mediated communication, often referred to as CMC, is the human to human interaction using networked computer environments. When you email another person, that person can respond to your message; when you engage in an online chat, other people can interact with you by asking questions or responding to your statements; more advanced programs like Skype can even be used to facilitate face-to-face discussions over the Internet. In each of these situations, the communication is interactive: You are both a sender and receiver of communication.

Although we view mass communication and CMC as different forms of mediated communication, they share the common element of using electronic channels to facilitate communication. Mediated communication, prevalent in our lives already, will increase in the future. For that reason we much become effective consumers and producers of mediated messages.