What Is Communication?

Communication is simply a means of getting a message across from one entity to another. It is not only reserved for people; anything, from animals to inanimate objects to systems of nature communicate in some way. Communication is the fundamental basis of interaction between anything. It comes in many different forms, and it isn't as strict of a category as many people would assume. Even when it is done specifically between humans, it does not have to be verbal or written. It can be achieved through body language, or motions of the body or objects. Even singing a basic tune can communicate certain things, such as your mood. If you think about it, there are a huge number of ways to communicate, and there are a great deal of ways that people do without realizing.

Mass communication is communication on a huge scale. It is traditionally between a media entity, such as a TV or radio station controlling the resources and means of broadcast required to get a message across to a huge number of receivers. This is a huge accomplishment and a great good when thought of in terms of human progress: mass communication is constantly shrinking the metaphorical distance between people and places. Hanno Hardt has a point that the traditional mass communication setup tends to manufacture propagate one viewpoint, rather than encourage open discussion. This problem is rapidly being fixed, however, by the advent of the internet, which is allowing receivers to become senders as well; it allows users to become produsers. While there will always be people trying to get their viewpoint to dominate, mass communication is still clearly a force of good; without it, humanity would be much more isolated than it is today.