Module 6: Lecture Content – Methods of Communication

i. Types of Communication

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Introduction: 
Communication is essential for the progress and survival of humanity. Our very existence relies on interactions with others. What would happen in a world with no talking? The primary function of communication is to inform, educate, entertain, and persuade society to function correctly. By other means, communication also ignites debate and discussion; it fosters consensus creativity. Cultural integration thrives in the understanding among people. (UK Essays, 2021)

Though the term Communication can be understood as one single thing, it derives itself into different types of exchanges using signs and symbols. These are: (UK Essays, 2021)

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Intrapersonal Communication: H
appens within ourselves while listening and linking with oneself. Hearing our thoughts out loud beforehand helps anticipate them inside an actual communication. (UK Essays, 2021)

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Interpersonal Communication: This is
 the basic action of communication that can take place between two people, both sending and receiving messages.  This happens face-to-face, influenced by expressions, nods, and voice tones that can produce instant message feedback. (UK Essays, 2021)

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Group Communication: This expands
 interpersonal communication to more than two individuals. Decision-making and self-expression, as well as many other goals of communication, are achieved in a group exchange of ideas.  It increases the chance of interface among group members, bringing changes in attitudes and opinions. This all works to a certain point because if the amount of members in the group increases profusely, it turns into mass communication. (UK Essays, 2021)

ii. Mass Communication:

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Introduction: Mass Communication has been present since ancient times in its most basic verbal and non-verbal communication forms. With the new technologies and platforms around us, communication is becoming a global medium of social interaction with the power of changing the way we perceive our whole environment. This technological outbreak boosted the media industry to a colossal highway of opportunities that composes Mass Communication as we know it today. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

The main purpose of this term is to spread information beyond physical and geographical restraints through various mediums. Mass Communication has always been an integral part of the human world. The four main types of mass communication are part of our daily life and go as follows. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

These are the different types of mass communication: (Team Leverage Edu. 2021)

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Print Media: Newspapers, Magazines, Books, Comics, Journals, and Publications. (Team Leverage Edu. 2021)

When cinema and television hadn’t emerged in earlier times, print media was the main form to get the latest news, information, and entertainment. Written communication like newspapers, books, and journals have not lost its touch even in the digital age because an enormous part of the population still enjoy a morning read with coffee to get the latest news and a favorite novel in paperback form rather than through a screen. Besides that, many newspapers and other platforms have advanced towards a strong online presence to stay updated and bring the latest news and content at the touch of a finger. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

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Broadcast Media
: Films, Television, Radio. This form of mass communication implements electronic platforms to distribute information through audio and visual content. The big three of this form are Radio, Film, and Television. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

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Radio: This is one of the oldest forms of mass communication used earlier to make brief news announcements and telecast important events. Later, radio pioneers started broadcasting music and programs for pure entertainment. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021) Radio in its traditional form is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. During the 1930s, radio was considered an intimate and credible medium, reaching millions of people instantly and altering social attitudes towards family and the general environment. Despite the emergence of more glamorous ways of communication, radio continues to be as relevant and potent as it was in the early years. The advent of satellite equipment, the internet, and the convergence of technology have added further dimensions in media patterns. Radio is reorienting itself with more innovative programs and formats. While keeping its core audio format, radio announcers, stations, and companies have incorporated visual elements to support their content and social media platforms to reinforce the connection with the audience, which is the main goal of broadcasting. (UK Essays, 2021)

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Television: In its beginnings, although television was regarded as “radio with pictures,” public reaction to its arrival was widely different from that afforded to the radio. Early television was greeted with astonishment and glamour through it. People could see and hear actual events across town or hundreds of miles away. Public fascination was so great that crowds would gather in front of stores to watch a working television set on display. Sports events grew from thousands to millions when taverns included a TV set behind the bar for a full house. Television turned into a cultural juggernaut replacing parents, schools, churches, and governments as major influences on popular culture.  (Britannica, n.d.)

In the 1950s, programming began to branch out, borrowing elements of theater. Magazine programs like the 
Today show and the 
Tonight Show premiered in the early 50s. By the early 60s, cable television was serving almost nine hundred thousand subscribers. In 1972, HBO (Home Box Office) ventured into pay-per-view TV with premium shows and video-on-demand products. In 1987, the Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Services began testing a variety of analog and digital TV systems. By 2009, the committee agreed to switch from analog to digital format. As of 2010, almost fifty percent of Americans were watching high-quality television, a technological leap greater than the introduction of the VCR in the 1980s. Today, Film and Television are the major sources of entertainment to more than 90% of the world’s total population. It is one of the most popular types of Mass Communication with moving pictures and sounds and interactive storytelling for education, information, and entertainment. (University of Minnesota, 2016)

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Outdoor and Transit Media:
 Billboards, boarding, posters, banners. Although underrated, one of the most potent mediums of Mass Communication happens outside. Outdoor media refers to the spread of information through billboards, posters, boardings, and banners. These forms are quite effective for advertisement and social awareness for the general public. On the other hand, Transit media works mostly for advertising through posters, banners, and signs in modes of transportation like Buses, Trains, and public transportation in general. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

This is the oldest form of promotion in history. Evidence of outdoor messages has been found in the prehistoric Middle East. Ancient Egypt was popular for posing public notices and sales announcements on public walls. These are the forerunners of the modern billboards that we see on highways every day. In outdoor and transit media, words and pictures combine to create a concept to be understood and remembered almost instantly. Photographs in outdoor advertising have two main goals: attract and sustain attention and present the benefits of the advertised product, service, concept, or idea. (Oluwole, 2018)

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Digital Media/New Media
: Social media, video platforms, websites, mobile apps, e-books, podcasts, online radio. Digital Media is one of the most recent, popular, and influential types of Mass Communication in present times.  It combines interactive content for quick and easy access to information in various formats. Digital media conforms a great part of our daily activities with various mediums such as emails, podcasts, blogs, websites, videos, and social media.  With just a smartphone, it is possible to access several examples of mass communication. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

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Movies and Films: All kinds of films are released every week worldwide. Besides the known entertainment purpose, it is also a way of connecting with audiences on a mass scale. Films have taken the role of education and information through movies, programs, and documentaries. (Team Leverage Edu, 2021)

Cinema is the mainstream art form most accessed and preferred around the world.  It ignites a cognitive relationship between the filmmaker and the viewer. Film as a form of mass media impacts the population in great and many ways. Films reflect the past and present of society and culture.  Through dynamic images and flawless storytelling, movies have presented today’s generation’s topics, ideas, and experiences. Filmmakers approach controversial issues like religion, terrorism, sexual preferences, and social equality. (UK Essays, 2015)

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Social Media: (Femi, Sule & Ayinde, 2019) Kaplan and Haelei (2010) defined social media as a group of internet-based applications built on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content. The emergence of social media simplified the communication process with easy access and use. It comprises socializing and networking online through words, pictures, and videos. Social media tools’ main course is to maintain, manage and improve social interactions between people enable access to comment on content created by others.  Various social media sites are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. (Femi, Sule & Ayinde, 2019)

References

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Britannica (n.d.). 
Television in the United States. Retrieved from:
 

https://www.britannica.com/art/television-in-the-United-StatesLinks to an external site.

Femi, L.; Sule, Joshua & Ayinde, Oladeji (2019).
 Influence of Social Media on Communication Skills and Academic Performance of Business Education Students in Colleges of Education in Southwest Nigeria. Retrieved from:
 

https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Influence-of-Social-Media-on-Communication-Skills-and-Academic-Performance-of-Business-Education.pdfLinks to an external site.

Oluwole, Victor (2018).
 Photography in Outdoor Advertising. Retrieved from:
 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355978719_Photography_in_Outdoor_AdvertisingLinks to an external site.

Team Leverage Edu (2021).
 Types of Mass Communication. Retrieved from: 

https://leverageedu.com/blog/types-of-mass-communication/Links to an external site.

 UK Essays (2015).
 Film as a Form of Mass Media Essay. Retrieved from:
 

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/media/films-as-a-form-of-mass-media-media-essay.phpLinks to an external site.

 UK Essays (2021)
. Radio as a Medium of Mass Communication. Retrieved from:
 

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/media/radio-medium-mass-communication-1615.phpLinks to an external site.

 University of Minnesota (2016)
. Understanding Media and Culture. Retrieved from
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https://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/9-1-the-evolution-of-television/Links to an external site.

https://youtu.be/3zEPs3FWTZQ