Is telling someone something communication? It half is.
Communication is defined as the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information. According to this definition, neither television, radio or print can be considered communication mediums. In contrast, the internet enables millions of conversations amongst countless participants from every corner of the globe. Is the internet the first true form of mass communication?
To examine this, let’s look a little closer at all mediums;
Television
“In general, my children refused to eat anything that hadn’t danced on TV”.
~Erma Bombeck
The person who consumes broadcast messaging is called a “watcher” or a “listener”. Both of these positions are relatively passive in nature. The only thing asked of the person consuming the message is consumption. The consumers’ reaction can vary: they can agree, disagree, become emotionally charged or remain completely passive, however, they are not participating in any form of exchange with the broadcaster. This lack of participation has allowed broadcasters to become very good at mass manipulation, opening the door to an infrastructure that maintains extraordinary control over the population. We’ve become very good at persuasion; so effective at advertising in fact, that over the last half century we’ve driven the price of a 30 sec. spot during the Super Bowl to over $2.5 million. Most forms of broadcast content choose not to engage the consumer in thought as to not confuse the message. The only capacity required to consume these messages are basic sentient consciousness and a willingness to submit. Better described as a mass persuasion tool, television by definition is clearly not a communication tool at all.
Print
“If you don’t find it in the index, look very carefully through the entire catalogue.”
~Sears, Roebuck, and Co. Consumer’s Guide, 1897
Publishing is literally the execution of the original thought. The written word becomes the symbol of the pure idea or notion, offered in print for consumption and interpretation. Published content requires a higher level of imagination and literacy in it’s consumption. The words themselves cannot evolve but the interpretation of their message is in a constant state of evolution. This illustrates simultaneously the written word’s power as much as it does its limitation. Limited only by the strength of its binding, published content can dive deep on a subject or wide on a topic. Books often incite conversations, actions, even revolutions. However this linear experience is finite in nature. This sharing of ideas makes publishing a great communication enabler, not necessarily a form of communication itself.
World Wide Web
The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.
~Jon Stewart
The internet is the newest form of communication, and will likely house all future forms of communication within it. The information it houses is in a constant state of evolution and requires interactivity to access. As a tool, one who interacts with this medium is called a “User”. The user must be literate, must know enough about the subject to ask a question and possess enough savvy to qualify the validity of the answer. In other words, the internet requires the most amount of participation then the afore mentioned mediums. For most, this work begins with a search engine. The more specific the user is with a search term, the more relevant the information returned will be. This exchange requires much consideration, as any conversation would, in order to achieve the desired result.
On a macro level, the user’s selection (or avoidance) of a search result directly affects its rank relative to the searched term. A dialogue is also identified here since search engine rankings are viewed as key qualifiers to the validity of the information. However, this dialogue can be interrupted by outside influences: search results can be bought, but contextual relevance is still needed to attract user interaction to maintain position. In other words, it is possible to buy your way to the top, but ultimately it’s the users who will keep you there.
This dialogue of content optimization based on user interaction combined with the power to publish a message with the potential to reach millions in direct exchange of ideas and information makes the internet truly a form of mass communication.
We haven’t even begun to discuss what happens when you actually arrive at a web site. But that’s for another day…
The internet is also happy to retrofit all forms of traditional mediums into new, interactive ones. Mail becomes email. TV becomes IPTV with user generated networks, while radio becomes mp3 playlists and radio such as Pandora.com. Magazines, newsletters and press releases become RSS feeds. Telephone becomes VOIP.
Housing all of these mediums proves the internet to be the lead medium of mass persuasion because it is the only true medium of mass communication.
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4 Responses to “Is the internet the only form of mass communication?”
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January 1st, 2007 at 6:32 pm
The Internet is the only Mass Communication Medium… Period….
Is telling someone something communication? It half is. Communication is defined as the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information. According to this definition, neither television, radio or print can be considered communication mediums. In contras…
January 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 am
Is the internet the only form of mass communication?…
[Source: radical trust] quoted: According to this definition, neither television, radio or print can be considered communication mediums. In contrast, the internet enables millions of conversations amongst countless participants from every corner of t…
January 7th, 2007 at 2:50 am
[...] Internet – The Only Form Of Mass Communication? 07Jan07 Internet – The Only Form Of Mass Communication?: “Interesting piece from Radical Trust (via Marktd)” [...]
January 15th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
ummm are you guys forgeting what you do everyday. Speaking it goes on everywhere you can’t go anywhere that it isn’t happening. and speaking started before the internet of course.