Media, Technology and Society

Interaction in Communication

OVERVIEW

• What is Communication

• Virtual view of communication

• What is interaction?

• Types of interaction

• The impact of mediation

• What is reciprocity?

Communication

Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another.

Communication Process

A message or communication is sent by the sender through a communication channel to a receiver, or to multiple receivers. • The sender must encode the message (the information being

conveyed) into a form that is appropriate to the communication channel, and the receiver(s) then decodes the message to understand its meaning and significance.

Misunderstanding can occur at any stage of the communication process. • Effective communication involves minimising potential

misunderstanding and overcoming any barriers to communication at each stage in the communication process.

Effective Communication

An effective communicator understands their audience, chooses an appropriate

communication channel, hones their message to this channel and encodes the message to reduce

misunderstanding by the receiver(s).

Virtual view of communication

Interaction

Communication happens when one person sends a message to another person either

verbally or non-verbally. Interaction happens when two people respond to one another – a

two-way communication.

Social Interaction

Social interactions include a large number of behaviours, so many that in sociology, interaction is usually divided into five

categories.

Types of interaction

Exchange

Competition

Conflict

Cooperation

Accommodation

Exchange

• An exchange is when you do something to get something in return or for a reward

• Reciprocity is a basis of every exchange

Exchange Theory

• Some people are motivated by self interest.

• Behavior that is rewarded may offer be repeated.

• Cost of interaction outweigh the rewards.

Competition

Occurs when two or more people or groups oppose each other to achieve the goal.

Most sociologists view competition as a positive means of motivating.

The negative side of competition is that it can lead to psychological stress, a lack of

competition inequality and even conclict.

Conflict

• Conflict is the deliberate attempt to control a person by force, to oppose a someone or harm another person.

• The main emphasis of conflict is to defeat an opponent.

Cooperation

• Cooperation occurs when two or more people or groups works together to achieve a goal that will benefit more than one person.

• Cooperation is a social process that gets things done. No group can complete its task, or reach its goal without cooperation from its members.

Accommodation

Accommodation is a state of balance between cooperation and conflict.

The impact of mediation

Mediation is an effective way of resolving disputes without the need to go to more difficult

situation.

It involves an independent third party - a mediator - who helps both sides come to an

agreement. Mediation is a flexible process that can be used to settle disputes in a whole range

of situations such as: consumer disputes.

What is reciprocity?

Reciprocity in social psychology refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions. As a social construct, reciprocity means that in response to friendly actions, people are frequently much nicer and much more

cooperative than predicted by the self-interest model; conversely, in response to hostile actions they are frequently much more nasty and even

brutal.

Media, Technology and Society

Interaction in Communication