Over the weekend I spend a good amount of time communicating with other people, whether it be face to face, on the phone, or on the internet. As I communicated with people, I tried to focus on whether the types of communication I chose to use went along with the Media Richness Theory, or with O’Sullivan’s model, or perhaps both.
The first communication I analyzed was when I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday. Naturally I wanted to use the richest media available for this task, so since I couldn’t go home, I had to call her. My choice of media in this situation supports both the Media Richness Theory and O’Sullivan’s model. According to the Media Richness Theory, I would try to pick a mode of communication that matched the complexity of my message. Considering that I was planning on saying more to my mom than “Happy Birthday” and then hanging up, it follows that I would choose the richest form of communication available to me: the telephone. Using a telephone, we would be able to experience a multiplicity of cues, message personalization and feedback, and language variety. All this made the communication between my mom and me both very rich and equivocal. My choice of using rich media to communicate with my mother also follows O’Sullivan’s model. In this situation the locus is somebody else (my mom), and the valence is positive (happy birthday). Of the four possible combinations of loci and valences, the “Other” and “Positive” combination is the one with the greatest likelihood of using a rich media format for communication.
The second communication I chose to analyze was when I used instant messaging to ask one of my roommates whether they had gotten tickets to see Stephen Colbert in October. I asked him to buy me a ticket when he bought his because I would be in class all day and wouldn’t be able to. I chose to use instant messaging because I was at work and had only a very simple question and response planned for the communication. A lot of the regular cues used when communicating in a rich media format would not be necessary for this simple message. My choice follows directly with the Media Richness Theory. I had a simple message, no need for cues or vague and ambiguous communication. As far as O’Sullivan’s model is concerned, this does not really confirm it at all. I wasn’t delivering any sort of positive or negative news to my friend; I was just asking a simple question.
And if you are curious, I did get the tickets.
5 comments:
I thought your first example about calling your mom for her birthday was very interesting, because I don’t think I would ever really think about applying O’Sullivan’s model to that situation. After your explanation about how the valance in that situation is positive and it is about someone else, I completely see why that it applies. In my media selections I choose to support the Media Richness Theory like you did. I concluded that although O’Sullivan’s model addresses a need for clarity or ambiguity depending on the situation, the Media Richness Theory is a much more viable option because it seeks efficiency in a fast-paced and hectic society.
Logan,
You give two very good examples of media selection. Even though the Media Richness Theory and O'Sullivan's model often contradict each other (efficiency vs. ambiguity) your example of calling your mother on her birthday fits both. As for the Colbert tickets, it makes sense that you would use IM to communicate with your friend since you were at work, and only needed a yes or no response. In this case, efficiency was the most important factor in determining what method of communication to use. You wanted to know right then whether your friend got the tickets, as opposed to waiting until you saw him face to face.
Wow, you actually thought about the theories when you called your mom and asked your friend for the ticket?
I will just build on what Gretchen said. I think the ticket buying also fits into the O'Sullivan model since you are asking your friend to buy a ticket for yourself. Although the valence don't apply, the locus is self, so you are more prone to use a more mediated channel to communicate. But I think this may be stretching it a bit.
So, I guess Media Richness Theory is a better choice after all.
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