I decided to describe two instances of media selection, both of which occurred yesterday morning. The following media selections involved myself and my friend, who was in charge of buying our Steven Colbert tickets at 9 am.
Since we wanted to get seats to see Colbert together, my friend decided she would sacrifice sleeping in Monday morning to get us tickets. I was up eating breakfast before my 10 am lecture, and decided to send her a text message: “don’t forget to get tickets for colbert!” I decided on this medium for a few reasons. First, it was the fastest way to contact her. I was in a hurry, getting dressed and ready for class, so I was concerned with reminding her with as little effort on my part as possible. Also, this specific communication had a pretty low equivocality – it was a simple reminder, rather than a vague message requiring further explanation. Thus, in accordance with the Media Richness Theory, I selected a lean medium in order to communicate a simple message efficiently and in a timely manner.
I left my cell phone in the living room to finish getting ready for class. When I was ready to go and putting the phone in my backpack, I saw that I had a message. I was expecting a reply in the form of a text message, if anything, just a simple “don’t worry about it” or “got it.” After all, my friend was in the same situation as me and had a class at 10. Instead, I had a missed call and voicemail, which said: “Hey, Eden. You need to answer your phone. Just wanted to let you know I came through for you – big time. We got front row seats!” Instantly I understood why she had decided to call me instead of send me another text message. This news is simply too good to be written down in some impersonal text message. In accordance with O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model, the valence of the message, in this case positive, influenced my friend’s media selection. Despite the fact that a cell phone call was less efficient than a text message, my friend decided on the least mediated channel possible to convey this positive message with as much interaction as she could.
In sum, this situation yesterday shows that both the Media Richness Theory and the Impression Management Model can help in understanding someone’s media selection. I felt that these were two interesting differing media selections to discuss, but honestly, I just wanted to brag a little about my seats!
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4 comments:
Eden, in your first interaction with your friend, in which you reminded her to get the tickets for Colbert through a text message, you state that your message had low equivocality. Though your message to your friend was short, I think that it was more significant than you thought. The Media Richness Theory essentially states that the more ambiguous a task is, the richer the media channel should be to convey that message efficiently. As you state in your blog that you selected a lean medium to communicate a simple message efficiently, I think that due to the significance of your message, however short it is, it may have warranted a richer media channel. In this regard, this type of message may fall between the applications of both the Media Richness Theory and the Impression Management Model.
As for your second example, however, I think you correctly identified it in accordance with O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model. Your friend decided to call you most likely because her news was simply too good for a leaner media channel. As O’Sullivan asserts in his Impression Management Model, in situations in which individuals’ impressions are boosted, they often choose richer media channels. Your friend, in deciding to call you, perhaps understood that her conscious choice of a richer medium could provide greater access to your positive reactions.
I really enjoyed reading your post Eden. I definitely agree that your friend called because of the positive valence in his/her message. But also, I think they called because the vocal cues in his/her call allowed you to actually hear your friend say you got front row seats. This vocal cue probably resulted in both of you getting excited together. Hearing his/her voice get high pitched with excitement will get you even more excited than a bunch of exclamation marks in a text. But, I’m just a little confused why you say a phone call is less efficient than a text message. In fact, I think it’s quite efficient. You can say more in a shorter time, get the message to the receiver quickly, and it has more communicable cues. But either way, congrats on the tickets! Now, I’m going to do a shameless plug for CUPB: For those of you who weren’t so lucky, there’s a second show! Tickets go on sale Monday September 17th at 9 am. Maybe you can be as lucky as Eden if you wake up early! Go to www.cornelltickets.com for more info.
Eden, I think you were right in asserting that choosing a text message supported the Media Richness Theory. I agree with the comment Paul made that your text was more significant than you describe in your blog. Media Richness Theory focuses on the ambiguity and equivocality of a message, however, not it’s importance. Since you were simply reminding your friend to get the tickets, the message was rather clear: “Get the tickets.” This obvious, unambiguous message was perfect for a text message. By the way, I use texting as the “I don’t want to put any effort into this communication” medium as well. When I’m doing other things I always text even if a phone call would be more direct and I’d be sure whether the recipient got my message or not. I like to get things done in the time I’m waiting for a response text, just as you explained.
Eden, the use of a text message was perfect not only for the general situation but for that time of the morning. I know I myself can't really function that early, and really don't wanna deal with phone calls at that time either. Although i think your message was more important than you give it credit for, i think the use of the lean medium of text messaging got the point across. It was a simple reminder to get the tickets, but it got the job done. As far as your friend's concerned, of course they called because it fits with the media richness theory and the Impression management model. They had great news to share with you, and the valence was positive and the locus was on them, so a rich medium would provide positive reinforcement with a great reaction from you. They were pretty much fishing for praise and compliments, and with good reason. have fun at Colbert.
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