Mediated and Non-mediated Communication

Mediated communication or mediated interaction (less often, mediated discourse) refers to

communication carried out by the use of information communication technology and can be
contrasted to face-to-face communication. While nowadays the technology we use is often
related to computers, giving rise to the popular term computer-mediated communication,
mediated technology need not be computerized as writing a letter using a pen and a piece
of paper is also using mediated communication. Thus, Davis defines mediated
communication as the use of any technical medium for transmission across time and space.
Historically, mediated communication was much rarer than the face-to-face method. Even
though humans possessed the technology to communicate in space and time for millennia,
the majority of the world's population lacked skills such as literacy to use them. This began
to change in Europe with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg that led
to the spread of printed texts and rising literacy from the 15th century. Separately, the first
print culture was Chinese in origin. Whatever the tradition, face-to-face interaction has
begun to steadily lose ground to mediated communication.
Compared to face-to-face communication, mediated communication engages fewer senses,
transmits fewer symbolic cues (most mediated communication does not transmit facial
expressions) and is seen as more private. Parties usually require some technical expertise to
operate the mediating technologies. New computerized media, such as mobile telephones
or instant messaging, allow mediated communication to transmit more oral and nonverbal
symbols than the older generation of tools.
The type of mediated technology used can also influence its meaning. This is most famously
rendered in Marshall McLuhan's maxim "the medium is the message".
Lundby (2009) distinguished between three forms of mediated communication: mediated
interpersonal communication, interactive communication, and mass communication.
Thompson (1995), however, treated mass communication not as a part of mediated
communication, but on par with mediated and face-to-face communication, terming it
"mediated quasi-interaction"
Differences from face-to-face communication
There are only a few ways that mediated communication and face-to-face communication
function similarly. One of them is that interpersonal coordination is present in both
face-to-face and mediated communication. However, mediated communication has vast
differences and limitations compared with face-to-face communication. Writing in
communication media and speech in face-to-face communication are different in terms of
their lexical density, range of grammatical structures, varied connectivity between
sentences, syntax, permanence, etc. These differences in each type of communication can
change the message. Texting and e-mail, for example, contain combined forms of writing
and speech, which is evident by slang and shorthand. Also, no nonverbal cues can be sent
through mediated communication, so received information can be harder to
understand.[12] Verbal (or textual) cues are used instead of nonverbal ones to convey the
same messages.
Individuals send more information at a time through computer media than any other form
of communication, including face-to-face communication. This increased rate of information
transfer allows abusive forms of communication like cyber bullying and phishing to occur.
The disassociation and disinhibition associated with mediated communication can cause
people who are being deceived to have trouble interpreting the reactions of the deceiver
since information sent through media instead of face-to-face can lose or have change the
nonverbal cues within it, and, with that, signs of deception. The decreased availability of
these nonverbal cues increases disassociation and anonymity. It is easier to trust someone
else through mediated communication, but people with less trust can detect deception
better online.
Because of the limitations of mediated communication, Nardi and Whittaker (2002) note,
"Many theorists imply that face-to-face communication is the gold standard of
communication. Mediated communication has been, however, described as more preferable
in some situations, particularly where time and geographical distance are an issue. For
example, in maintaining long-distance friendship, face-to-face communication was only the
fourth most common way of maintaining ties, after mediated communication tools of
telephone, email and instant messaging.
Uses
Individuals will use different types of media depending on their motivations, communication
purpose, institutional factors, and situational factors. Also, people will be more inclined to
use a particular medium of communication if others associated with them use that medium;
this is called the network effect. Motivations for using certain media are divided into
strongand weak-tie communication. There are five communication purposes: coordination,
knowledge-sharing, information gathering, relationship development, and conflict
resolution. Institutional factors include the physical structure of work units, social structure,
and incentives. Situational factors include task characteristics, message content, and
urgency.
Mediated communication is not as commonly used as face-to-face communication in the
workplace, but there are different preferred media of communication for simple forms of
coordination. E-mails and phone calls tend to be used for simple or complex coordination,
but e-mails are also useful for retaining information and recording the exchange of
information. In terms of communication solutions to certain situational factors, e-mails are
used for recording the transfer of information and sending long, complex, and non-textual
information, and phone calls and pagers are used for immediate communication. E-mails
and phone calls are also used in knowledge sharing and information gathering. E-mails are
rarely used to accomplish relationship goals, but they are used for conflict resolution.
Individuals have a higher motivation to use cell-phone texting for weak-tie communication.
The network effect has the most impact on email, meaning that people tend to use e-mail
more if their peers use it, too.