What is Communication?

Last semester, I was fortunate enough to study under Professor Glick for the course, Language, Culture, and Communication in the U.S. Also known as ANTH114, the class focused on how linguistics form culture. His central argument was explained through a diagram of boxes inside of boxes. The most outer box was labeled behavior. Inside behavior was communication followed by culture and finally language. Through this diagram, Professor Glick explained that each category relied on the previous box. Meaning, the words that comprise the English language help construct our culture. Furthermore, culture creates ideologies and values that form the way societies communicate to reinforce desired behavioral patterns.[1]
From the perspective of this course, Hanno Hardt's article defines communication as, “the process of 'making common.'” It has also been noted that communication contains “the notion of 'transmission' (one-way) and 'sharing' (two-way).” [2]Thus, communication involves three processes. Nevertheless, these definitions do not account for meaning. If two people communicate through the two-way sharing method, the receiver might find underlying meaning not intended by the sender. This becomes even more complex with cyber communication for there is no human contact to insure the message's meaning is correctly comprehended. In Anth114, Professor Glick defined the problem as the difference between entailed and presupposed ideologies. In any conversation, the context may be conscious or unconscious. If the two parties do not share the same backgrounds, they might create varying meanings, leading to miscommunication. [3]
Additionally, the issue of miscommunication effects mass communication. Hardt describes mass communication as defining “reality and marks the boundaries of social knowledge, authenticating its representations of the world through public compliance and consent, if not sheer popularity.” [4]Therefore, mass communication intends to create a scope of understanding broad enough to encompass a global audience. By doing so, information is widely disseminated yet the complexities of communication are lost.

[1] Glick, Douglas J. Language, Culture and Communication in the US. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Holt Publishing, 2009.
[2] Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
[3]Glick, Douglas J. Language, Culture and Communication in the US. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Holt Publishing, 2009.
[4]Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

Communication: The Revolution Enabler

What is Communication?

Communication is what makes revolutions possible. It incorporates every single interaction that we have as a species and even with other species. Communication functions as a force "tied to a realization of the centrality of commuincation in social settings."[1]

The uprising that has occurred in the past month in Egypt is the work of communication on the internet. According to Wael Ghonim, a popular activist and Google executive, the revolution was able to happen because of the communication allowed by the use of Facebook and other social media sites. [2]

Perhaps the most important underlying idea of communication allowing revolutions to happen is that the internet is not almighty. As implied by Calderone, the driving force behind a real revolution and the overturning of a government requires manpower and communication by a show of force and numbers.[2] During the revolt in Iran, the government cracked down on protesters and the mobilization of people did not occur. Thus, even with the internet allowing mass communication, revolutions require physical communication that is not available over the internet.


[1]Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses: An Essay on Mass Communication. United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 3.
[2]Calderone, Michael. Social media plays role in Egypt some expected in Iran. Yahoo! News. February 11, 2011. http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110211/ts_yblog_thecutline/social-media-plays-role-in-egypt-some-expected-in-iran. Accessed February 12, 2011. Internet.

Communication Conceptualized

Communication is a process by which information or emotion is transmitted to one or more individuals. A traditional model of communication states the presence of both a sender and receiver. The sender’s message or intent is transferred to the receiver who then interprets said information. This model can also easily be applied to most forms of mass media, but is made complicated by the emergence of present day cyber communication, enabling one to possibly be both a sender and receiver.

Mass media is a term used to describe any method of communication intended for large audiences. Types of media intended for large scale communication include newspapers, magazines, radio, cell phones, and the internet. There are many inherent benefits and disadvantages in massively communicating both on a personal and societal level.

The health of a society’s democracy can be defined by its ability to communicate via mass media. When, social, political, and international information (in conjunction with advertising) is delivered massively, it can often be hard to find legitimate unbiased information on any topic. Currently, “mass communication (is) in crisis…and public confidence in the media remains low.”(Hardt 2) However, it is necessary to protect our freedom of press and it is our responsibility to examine the process and motives fueling each sender.

Presently, any individual or group with an internet capable device may access the internet where endless data are perpetually sent and received. News, text, video, photo, and advertising information stream via the World Wide Web and are presently appropriated for irrepressible display on widely popular social networking sites. As a result, the ability of both the sender and receiver in our traditional model is modified, making each individual both a sender and receiver, a sender or receiver, or neither. The sender’s intention in this cyber communication model is more ambiguous; interpretation, culture and language serve as barriers to the recipient.

Humans are communicating more than ever on a global scale. Traditional models and methods of communication are transforming rapidly to adjust to present cyber communications. Language, culture, and interpretation may limit the ability of transmitting information, including the ability to obtain a sufficient internet-capable device. However, the basic necessity to communicate face-to-face, with all its struggles implied, has remained unchanged and will continue to be vital, regardless of modernity.

Works Cited:

Hardt, Hanno. Myths for the Masses. An Essay on Mass Communication. Oxford, England. Blackwell Publishing. 2004.

What is communication?

As simple as the question, "what is communication?" is, it has a multitude of answers that are nothing short of complicated. One definition of communication is the activity of conveying information. However, this is a strangely simple way to define such a broad term. Communication spans so many different forms and is used for several different functions that it has become one of universal signs of civilization. Communication has expanded over decades to mean more than just face-to-face contact between people.

Evidence of written communication goes back to 3500BC in the Middle East and Egypt. However, writing isn't the only way that ideas are conveyed. Communication can also include non-verbal and non-written forms like body language. Because of this, Professor Douglas J. Glick defines communication as all forms of human behavior. Therefore, communication cannot be kept in such simple parameters when discussed.

Works cited:

"The History of Communication." Inventors. Web. 19 Sept. 2010. .

Glick, Douglas J. Language Culture and Communication in the U.s. Kendall Hunt Pub, 2009. Print.

What is Communication

Communication is the means by which one party interacts with another. It makes it possible for people to connect and spread information. The different means of communication grow exponentially as time progresses. People can speak, write, or use gestures/body language to name a few. Innovation in recent years led to even more possibilities thanks to things like the internet and cellular phones. People can now communicate with virtually anyone, anywhere, at any time utilizing things like text messages, facebook, webcams, or other chat programs such as Skype.
I recently taught my 83 year old grandmother in Hungary to use the program Skype so that we can keep in touch and save the cost of long distance phone calls. The ease of communication has made it so much easier for people learn from each other all over the world. It is hard to believe that people once had to wait for a telegraph or a letter to get the information they desired, and now we can do so instantly. Obviously it is a great convenience to have such new methods of communication, however; it makes me wonder if eventually people will become so used to virtual communication that social skills in a face-to-face setting with suffer and people will become awkward when physically brought together to communicate in person without a computer screen or a cell phone as a barrier.

-Natalie-