Communication is sharing information. It is a broad term in the sense that anyone can participate in communication. Who the senders and receivers are is not intrinsic in the definition. Communication can be giving orders to a subordinate, or sharing a thought with a friend. Hanno Hardt defines communication as “Making Common”[1]. An important question to consider is, is it still communication if the receiver does not understand? If the sender tries to communicate an idea to a receiver, but they do not understand the information, have they communicated? The sender has sent their information, but the receiver has not fully received it, the process has not been completed, and therefore communication has not happened. Understanding is an integral part of communication.
It is important to also consider this question for mass communication. Mass communication is much less focused on the receiver. Mass communication is not speaking to a specific person. According to Hanno Hardt: “Mass Communication… borrows from the notion of communication[1]”. According to this quote, Mass communication is not the same thing as communication. Mass communication attempts to reach a large audience. It is difficult to ensure that all of the audience will receive the message, and therefore the receiving of the information is much less important in Mass Communication. Mass communication is a one sided action, spreading information, while communication needs both sender and receiver, and understanding to work.
[1] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 7
The distinction that you pointed out between communication and mass communication is very important to our class discussions. As you have implied, these terms are not interchangeable and have different meanings. I hope to incorporate your explanations in my future posts.
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