Blog Post #2
This week we are able to freely communicate about any concepts/course material that we find particularly interesting. In saying that there was one quote that immediately grabbed my attention in relation to time biased versus space biased media/communication. The reason I became attached to this particular quote is because it is very relevant in today’s day and age. Harold Innis famously said “Improvements in communication…make for increased difficulties in understanding.” This quote reminded me of a prevalent conversation we had in CS 204 with Dr. Nicholas Ray. In that class we talked a lot about dialogue versus dissemination. Dialogue being one on one communication and dissemination being one person to a larger audience. Each communication form has its pros and cons; dissemination has larger reach but less understanding, dialogue has less reach but more understanding. This is almost exactly what Innis is saying in his quote. With modern technology anyone has the ability to disseminate to a mass audience. This is of course an improvement in communication, however, it is more difficult to understand. Why is this? Well, it is because the recipient of online communication has to fully interpret what the sender of the message is saying. Most of the time an individual will interpret the message incorrectly. Dialogue allows the listener to ask questions to the speaker, resulting in full comprehension of the sender's message. I always find it incredible when a quote from decades ago stands the test of time and remains accurate. Innis said this quote before computers, before the internet and most importantly before social media. An argument could be made that this quote is more relevant now than ever and continued communicative progress will only contribute to the accuracy of this quote.
I came up with two questions that I encourage you to think about and hopefully answer in the comments. Firstly; do you often find others misinterpreting messages you put online? Secondly; do you think there is a way to simultaneously improve communication and understanding?
Great post! I couldn't agree more with you. I was also in Nicholas ray CS204, which was one of the first things I thought about when reading Innis. It is so fascinating to me how, as you said, he made this quote before social media, the internet, etc. This concept is so genuine today as technology has grown and advanced so rapidly that it has made for increased difficulty in understanding. To use your question as an example, I often find others misinterpreting messages online. Especially to people I just met, which makes it even harder. For instance, I sometimes have a sarcastic sense of humour, making it difficult for people to interpret my message or my real intentions. Speaking face to face with someone allows for many more components than words. You have expression, emotion, body language etc. Lots of non-verbal communication allows for more context and more precise understanding.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! To answer your first question I definitely find that people misinterpret messages online especially when it comes to texting. It's so hard to correctly dissect a message when all you have his words on a screen and maybe some punctuation and emojis. I find the biggest misinterpretation is the tone of the message that often gets misconstrued. Even when texting family and friends sometimes we'll discuss a message that was sent when we're in person and to hear how other people interpret a message is often different from my interpretation. To answer your second question we actually discussed this quite a bit in my nonverbal communication class. I think communication can definitely be enhanced through the use of emojis, photos, punctuation and even the use of capitalization. Anything that can substitute for the absence of nonverbal cues is helpful in creating context around a simple text. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHello Megan, you make a great point in regards to the second question. We are given so many tools when it comes to online communication (like you said emojis, photos, punctuation) yet we rarely use them in conversation. We know that an exclamation point can represent the excitement or importance behind a message but we rarely use it. I will say a lot of punctuation goes out the window when texting online (at least for me personally) this is certainly something I need to improve upon in order to convey my message correctly.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! I think the quote you choose is very powerful...“Improvements in communication…make for increased difficulties in understanding.” Interpretation of a message is very crucial, as the sender hopes that the receiver is interpreting the message how they intended it to be interpreted. To answer your questions I often add emojis so that people can understand my emotion behind a message. Sometimes when I read messages from people I just met, I can't tell if they are being sarcastic or serious (in certain conversation scenarios), as I am not able to see their facial expression as we are texting, which is why I think emojis are very helpful in creating indicators to a person's emotion behind a message.
ReplyDeleteHey Sarah! I think you made a very good point about how it can be difficult to interpret the tone of a message when it comes from someone you've just met, and I can definitely relate. As someone who doesn’t use many emoji to communicate, I often find myself thinking about how the message could have been sent and what the original meaning was. Unless I know someone extremely well, I am unsure of their tone and how they intended their message. Texting is different for everyone. Some people use short forms, simple sentences, and others use long, descriptive texts. Considering it may not be the same way I necessarily text, it is more difficult to understand its meaning. Oftentimes, I find I spend a lot of time reading texts and then sending them quickly, which can result in sending mixed messages and causing some confusion unintentionally, or vice versa. My usual method of improving communication with someone new through text is to send a second message to clarify what I was saying or provide more details if I am not sure the first message was clear.
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