Means of communication are used by people to communicate and exchange information with each other as an information sender and an information recipient.
Means of communication are used by people to communicate and exchange information with each other as an information sender and an information recipient.
We use many different materials in communication. Maps, for example, save you tedious explanations on how to get to your destination. While these ways of communicating are also complex. A means of communication is therefore a means to an end to make communication between people easier, more understandable and, above all, clearer. In everyday language, the term means of communication is often equated with the medium. However, the term "medium" is used in media studies to refer to a large number of concepts, some of which do not correspond to everyday usage. [1] [2] Making each of these experiences unique.
Means of communication are used for communication between sender and recipient and thus for the transmission of information. Elements of communication include a communication-triggering event, sender and recipient, a means of communication, a path of communication and contents of communication. [3] The path of communication is the path that a message travels between sender and recipient; in hierarchies the vertical line of communication is identical to command hierarchies. [4] Paths of communication can be physical (e.g. the road as transportation route) or non-physical (e.g. networks like a computer network). Contents of communication can be for example photography, data, graphics, language, or texts.
Means of communication in the narrower sense refer to technical devices that transmit information. [5] They are the manifestations of contents of communication that can be perceived through the senses and replace the communication that originally ran from person to person and make them reproducible. [6]
Up until the 19th century the term was primarily applied to traffic and couriers and to means of transport and transportation routes, such as railways, roads and canals, [7] but also used to include post riders and stagecoachs.
In the period that followed, the "technical means of communication" increasingly came to the foreground, so that as early as 1895 the German newspaper "Deutsches Wochenblatt" reported that these technical means of communication had been improved to such an extent that "everyone all over the world has become our neighbor". [8]
Not until the 20th century was the term medium also a synonym for these technical means of communication. In the 1920s the term mass media started to become more popular.
A distinction can be made between oral, written, screen-oriented transfer of information and document transport: [9]
| verbal transfer of information | written transfer of information | screen-oriented transfer of information | Records transport |
|---|---|---|---|
| speech, mobile phones, telephones | letters, postcards, telex | Bildschirmtext, webcam | couriers |
| intercom | fax | online chat, email, presentation programs, SMS, MMS, teletext | conveyor belt message in a bottle |
| virtual assistant | teletex | remote data transmission | pneumatic tube |
| two-way radio, radiotelephones | computer terminals | satellite radio | carrier pigeon |
In this table means of communication are mentioned that are no longer used today.
Furthermore, a distinction can be made between:
Means of communication in the narrower sense are those of technical communication.
In companies (businesses, agencies, institutions) typical means of communication include documents, such as analyses, business cases, due diligence reviews, financial analyses, forms, business models, feasibility studies, scientific publications, and contracts.
The means of natural communication or the "primary medias" (see Media studies) include:
Means of communication are often differentiated in models of communication:
Media as a means of communication in the future will be distinguished:
Mass media refers to reaching many recipients from one – or less than one – sender simultaneously or nearly simultaneously. Containing a number of diverse forms, listed below.
Due to their wide dissemination, mass media are suitable for providing the majority of the population with the same information.
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Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmits meaning but also creates it. Models of communication are simplified overviews of its main components and their interactions. Many models include the idea that a source uses a coding system to express information in the form of a message. The message is sent through a channel to a receiver who has to decode it to understand it. The main field of inquiry investigating communication is called communication studies.
A message is a discrete unit of communication intended by the source for consumption by some recipient or group of recipients. A message may be delivered by various means, including courier, telegraphy, or an electronic bus. A message can be the content of a broadcast. An interactive exchange of messages forms a conversation. The consumption of the message relies on how the recipient interprets the message, there are times where the recipient contradicts the intention of the message which results in a boomerang effect. Message fatigue is another outcome recipients can obtain if a message is conveyed too much by the source.
The data link layer, or layer 2, is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer. The data link layer provides the functional and procedural means to transfer data between network entities and may also provide the means to detect and possibly correct errors that can occur in the physical layer.
A written language is the representation of a language by means of writing. This involves the use of visual symbols, known as graphemes, to represent linguistic units such as phonemes, syllables, morphemes, or words. However, written language is not merely spoken or signed language written down, though it can approximate that. Instead, it is a separate system with its own norms, structures, and stylistic conventions, and it often evolves differently than its corresponding spoken or signed language.
Human communication, or anthroposemiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how humans communicate. Humans' ability to communicate with one another would not be possible without an understanding of what we are referencing or thinking about. Because humans are unable to fully understand one another's perspective, there needs to be a creation of commonality through a shared mindset or viewpoint. The field of communication is very diverse, as there are multiple layers of what communication is and how we use its different features as human beings.
Word of mouth is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others a story about a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and traditions transmitted by word of mouth through successive generations. Storytelling and oral tradition are forms of word of mouth that play important roles in folklore and mythology. Another example of oral communication is oral history—the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker. Oral history preservation is the field that deals with the care and upkeep of oral history materials collected by word of mouth, whatever format they may be in.
Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about and analyzing key events, processes, and commitments that together form communication. Theory can be seen as a way to map the world and make it navigable; communication theory gives us tools to answer empirical, conceptual, or practical communication questions.
Ernst Münch was a German plant physiologist who proposed the pressure flow hypothesis in 1930.
Actuator Sensor Interface is an industrial networking solution used in PLC, DCS and PC-based automation systems. It is designed for connecting simple field I/O devices in discrete manufacturing and process applications using a single two-conductor cable.
The Ulm School of Design was a college of design based in Ulm, Germany. It was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill, the latter being first rector of the school and a former student at the Bauhaus. The HfG quickly gained international recognition by emphasizing the holistic, multidisciplinary context of design beyond the Bauhaus approach of integrating art, craft and technology. The subjects of sociology, psychology, politics, economics, philosophy and systems-thinking were integrated with aesthetics and technology. During HfG operations from 1953–1968, progressive approaches to the design process were implemented within the departments of Product Design, Visual Communication, Industrialized Building, Information and Filmmaking.
Max Bense was a German philosopher, writer, and publicist, known for his work in philosophy of science, logic, aesthetics, and semiotics. His thoughts combine natural sciences, art, and philosophy under a collective perspective and follow a definition of reality, which – under the term existential rationalism – is able to remove the separation between humanities and natural sciences.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to communication:
Karl Johann Nikolaus Stumpff was a German astronomer. The Stumpff functions, used in the universal variable formulation of the two-body problem, are named after him.
Eckhard Jesse is a German political scientist. Born in Wurzen, Saxony, he held the chair for "political systems and political institutions" at the Technical University of Chemnitz from 1993 to 2014. Jesse is one of the best known German political scholars in the field of extremism and terrorism studies. He has also specialized in the study of German political parties and the German political system.
Wilhelm Kempf is an Austrian born psychologist and peace researcher who has made significant contributions to theoretical psychology, psychological methodology and peace research. Alongside of Johan Galtung, Kempf is one of the founders of the concept of peace journalism, which he, in contrast to Galtung, however, does not conceive of as a form of advocacy journalism, but rather understands as a trans-disciplinary research program which has as its object the possibilities of and limits to maintaining journalistic quality norms during war and crisis situations, and to overcome the communication barriers between the conflict parties.
Models of communication simplify or represent the process of communication. Most communication models try to describe both verbal and non-verbal communication and often understand it as an exchange of messages. Their function is to give a compact overview of the complex process of communication. This helps researchers formulate hypotheses, apply communication-related concepts to real-world cases, and test predictions. Despite their usefulness, many models are criticized based on the claim that they are too simple because they leave out essential aspects. The components and their interactions are usually presented in the form of a diagram. Some basic components and interactions reappear in many of the models. They include the idea that a sender encodes information in the form of a message and sends it to a receiver through a channel. The receiver needs to decode the message to understand the initial idea and provides some form of feedback. In both cases, noise may interfere and distort the message.
Closed-loop communication is a communication technique used to avoid misunderstandings.
An unofficial collaborator or IM, or euphemistically informal collaborator, was an informant in the German Democratic Republic who delivered private information to the Ministry for State Security. At the end of the East German government, there was a network of around 189,000 informants, working at every level of society.
Rainer Krause is a German psychologist, psychoanalyst and researcher of human emotions.
Schramm's model of communication is an early and influential model of communication. It was first published by Wilbur Schramm in 1954 and includes innovations over previous models, such as the inclusion of a feedback loop and the discussion of the role of fields of experience. For Schramm, communication is about sharing information or having a common attitude towards signs. His model is based on three basic components: a source, a destination, and a message. The process starts with an idea in the mind of the source. This idea is then encoded into a message using signs and sent to the destination. The destination needs to decode and interpret the signs to reconstruct the original idea. In response, they formulate their own message, encode it, and send it back as a form of feedback. Feedback is a key part of many forms of communication. It can be used to mitigate processes that may undermine successful communication, such as external noise or errors in the phases of encoding and decoding.
