When first asked what communication is, the thought that pops into my mind is simply a conversation between two people, exchanging ideas. But really, communication does not even have to involve speaking and it can be as little as a smile to tell someone “good job!” or an evil eye to a friend to let them know, “Yes, I am mad at you.” Communication is the sharing or transferring of information or just an interaction between people, where something has been exchanged.
The Shannon and Weaver model of communication (1949) is accepted as one of the main models out of which Communication Studies has grown. Though this may be true, the Shannon and Weaver model deals with mathematical and engineering problems of communication—technical issues, therefore Daniel Chandler feels it to be wrong to apply the model to human communication. Chandler finds the model to be too linear to relate to true human communication. When people communicate there are gestures, facial expressions, and voice volume changes (among other factors) exchanged between the communicators simultaneously which if lost, may give a message a whole new meaning. These factors are in fact lost in the Shannon-Weaver model as communication is seen as a one-way situation where the receiver of the message simply absorbs information while the sender of the message is the only one who determines the meaning of the message. (1) This cannot be true to human communication as we all know communication is in no way a fixed path, it can go in multiple directions. The internet changes the traditional Shannon-Weaver model of communication because it allows for individualism and requires the formation of thoughts and ideas, unlike the traditional model. As stated before, the Shannon-Weaver model removes interpretation altogether from communication, and states that the one way path of communication is the only right way. With the internet, we see this is not the truth.
Mass communication differs from communication as whatever message or idea which is being exchanged is done between a large group of people instead of a transmitter and a receiver (according to Shannon-Weaver) or a sender and receiver (according to Chandler).(1) Hanno Hardt states that the revolutionary shift from communication to mass communication began with the invention of the printing press, when text could be printed to the masses. “There was an anticipated purpose to the organization and operation of the press that foreshadows much later hopes for a democratic model of mass communication.” Hardt goes on to state that since the printing press the public became more literate and reliant on the process of mass communication. Unfortunately, mass communication has the ability to remove the individualism from communication, the ability to think for one’s self and form independent opinions is made difficult. This is seen with fascism, communism, and Nazism. With these movements, groups have gained “total political control over society with the help of intellectual elites and their expertise and access to mass communication.” To sum it up, Hardt says it best, “Mass communication denies individual autonomy through strategies of separating people from themselves.”(2)
Though mass communication may lessen one’s individuality, the internet is the exception. The world wide web appeals to the individual and their freedom of choice. The internet allows us to communicate with everyone and anyone, and I mean anyone, and put our opinions out there for all to read. For instance, I am currently following people on Tumblr who I happen to not know, but we share the same interests (or some are just hilarious) and I enjoy reading what they have to say whether it be something I would like to learn or a blog about my favorite musician. The internet allows us to relay our own thoughts and ideas with perfect strangers. This sentiment is the same for other websites such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.
Hardt made it clear that the internet was not a mass communication “revolution” as he believes the printing press was, it merely “extends the availability of information, or data, to individuals with interests and capabilities to conduct independent research and draw their own conclusions.”(2) I do believe that the internet was a revolution, everything has changed with it, so much so that people must have the internet on their cell phones so they can be in touch with the world and every aspect of their lives every second of the day.
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(1) Chandler, Daniel. "Transmission Model of Communication."Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University. 18 Sept. 1995. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/trans.html 05 Jan. 2011. Web.
(2) Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: an Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print.
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