What is communication? The word “communication” is pretty old. Comunicacion It’s old French, from way back in the late 14th century. But actually, it’s even older. Going way into Latin, it’s communicationem (communis). A a noun of action from communicare which means "to share, divide out; communicate, impart, inform; join, unite, participate in," or even "to make common."
But in class, we gave communication this definition, “A social process in which individuals employ symbols to establish and interpret meaning in their environment.” What does this mean? Let’s break it down.
Social means that we as individuals interact with other people, but without means to do so, whatever we wish to convey will mean nothing. Thus, we use symbols. Symbols by definition are a representation, an object or anything that is given meaning. An example of a symbol could be a flower, which represent femininity or beauty. They symbols help other people understand what we wish to convey to them. Also, by using a system of symbols, we can also interpret and understand what’s going on around us, and what other people would wish to convey to us.
Last Wednesday, our topic concerned the Seven Contexts of Communication, Intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, organizational, public, mass communication and intercultural.
Intrapersonal Communication. This is basically defined as having an exchange of words with yourself. Thought processes, moral debates, decision making, all these are forms of intrapersonal communication.
Interpersonal Communication. This form requires at least two social beings. This form revolves around relationships, people, conversations, etc. even parties can be considered forms of interpersonal communication.
Mass Communication. TV, the newspaper, the Internet, satellites, magazines, etc. all are forms of mass media. All fall under the category of mass communication. This includes the diffusion of information, and media effects just like persuasion or even manipulation of the common man’s opinion.
Public Communication. Albeit like mass communication also involves the dissemination and diffusion of information, also the effects of media on the public. Instead of having mediums such as TV or the newspaper, an example would be a pastor or an orator in front of a rather sizable crowd.
Group Communication. Somewhat related to Interpersonal Communication, Group Communication focuses on the study of well…relationships in a group. It involves the analysis of group development, defining roles, and class analysis.
Organizational Communication. Yes. From the name we can also say that it is sort of related to interpersonal communication. Instead of a group of people, it is more like a group of groups, arranged in order of authority. The source of information in this context is the man in the sky, the big boss, the MAN, or simply the person with the highest ranking in the hierarchy.
Intercultural Communication. This is the final context I will discuss…since I am sleepy and want to finish the movie I am currently watching. This is simply communication between people of different cultures, races, or ethnicities. International politics, diplomacy between nations, apologies for war crimes, sympathizing for natural disasters are all examples of Intercultural Communication.
If you think about it, with all these “contexts” we don’t go a day without “establishing or interpreting meaning in our environment” right? Let’s face it. Communication is happens everywhere, all the time.
I’m sleepy and tired. Goodnight.
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