What is (mass) Communication?

In a world where communication determines who we are and what we know, it is crucial to recognize its importance. Today, we can send a text message in under 5 seconds, upload an album of pictures onto Facebook in minutes, and find what exactly what our friends are doing on Twitter. Our society depends on communication. According to The Transmition Model of Communication, communication is a process in which a transmitter exchanges information with a receiver in order to create mutual understanding (Chandler). In 1949, Shannon and Weaver, two Bell Telephone lab engineers developed a mathematical approach to communication, making information “measurable” (Chandler). Thankfully, this model has simplified the communication ten-fold, and has allowed further research regarding communication.

While this model focuses mainly on two-way communication, Hanno Hardt expands and differentiates this process into mass communication. Mass communication consists of the transmition of a message from one person, or a group of people, through a medium, to a large audience (Suite101.com). Hardt explains, however, that this mass communication forces people to lose their individuality, creating, “Prescribed thoughts, attitudes, and buying habits” (Hardt, 2). Hardt also refers to Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, authors of “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” In their article, they state that, “All mass culture is identical,” (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1) due to the constant repetition of themes we see throughout society. Because mass communication in the media has such an overwhelming affect on us, (through cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter) we begin to lose our individuality and become more like everybody else.

Over time we have seen a great transition from the Shannon-Weaver model of communication to the wide-spread mass communication we have today. We no longer have simply a sender and a receiver. A sender may change their Facebook status, and 682 receivers are there to relay that information to more and more people. The medium of communication has developed from a single channel into the miraculous cyber-world we know today.

While social networking cites and Blackberries control the lives of most “well-informed” people in the world, we must also remember not to lose ourselves in the realm of mass media and communication. We do not simply receive a phone call anymore. That phone call soon turns into a tweet, which develops into endless network of knowledge where privacy no longer exists.

1. Chandler, Daniel. "Transmission Model of Communication." Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University. 18 Sept. 1995. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. .

2. Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.

3. Horkheimer, Max, and Theodor Adorno. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Maria Elena Buszek: Homepage and Helpsite. 1944. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. .

4. Lane, Beth. "What Is Mass Media?: The Changing Role of Mass Communications and the Media Industries." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. 29 June 2007. Web. 05 Jan. 2011. .