In class we discussed different types of media selection that we use everyday to communicate. Some were considered lean channels (less cues) and others were rich channels (ones with more cues). After learning about O’Sullivan’s Media Richness Theory, I started to pay attention to my choice of media selections when talking with friends.
One situation in which I had to pick a certain media type of communications was done just a couple of hours ago for me. I was on my way home from classes and just 10ft. in front of me was a friend. I decided, since there were no other people in between us, to shout out his name and catch up with him that way. I considered calling him on my cell phone, but thought I was close enough to shout to him and him being able to hear me. We walked down together for a little bit, then he had to go to class and I proceeded to walk home. I chose to have a FtF interaction, which is a rich channel according to O’Sullivan, because I thought it would be the quickest, most efficient way to communicate. I considered calling him, but I thought he might not hear his cell phone and at the same time, I felt he was close enough to just shout out to.
Just a couple feet later, I spotted another friend, this time, the pathway was a lot more crowded, several people in between us and he was also farther away. I did not think I could shout to him and stop him because he was too far away, so I decided to call him and ask him to wait for me. Now that I am reflecting on the latter situation, I realized that there were other factors that contributed to my decision to call the second friend rather than a simple FtF interaction of calling out his name like the first situation. One reason that contributed to using a leaner channel is the fact that there were several people between me and my friend. I thought the FtF choice would be ineffective because my voice would be lost in the crowd. Also, I did not want to embarrass myself by attempting to get the attention of my friend, and him potentially not hearing me. I did not want to present myself in the public as a “loser” who could not get the attention of a friend. I think everyone can agree with me when they try to call out a friend’s name passing by on campus, possibly across the street or quad, then feeling very embarrassed because the friend did not hear/notice you. Therefore, the safe choice for me was to take the leaner approach and call my friend for the sake of not risking embarrassment.
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2 comments:
Grace, I can totally relate. I hate being embarrassed when a friend doesn’t turn around. All I want to do is tell everyone in the crowd that I swear I’m his/her friend. Because of this, it’s completely understandable why you would pull out your cell phone and call a friend. It’s funny how factors like the presence of other strangers can change our actions in very similar situations. This just got me thinking about how we choose to use different mediums to invite friends to hang out. Sometimes we call our friends to come over, but most times we’d rather just IM or text them, even though in the end, if they decide to come over, we’ll be hanging out and communicating Face to Face. Why do we get embarrassed to use media with richer cues, like to invite friends over the phone, or to yell to our friend in front of us, even though we are comfortable hanging out with them in Face to Face interactions?
Your choices were definitely the richest mediums for the task at hand. Yelling to your first friend was quick and easy because they were close. Calling your other friend on the phone saved time and energy, and saved you possible embarrassment as well.
I also can relate to your choice of calling your second friend. Yelling into a crowd can not only be embarassing, but annoying to those around us. I find it interesting that most people seem to have the same inhibitions and fears about being embarrassed, yet we still judge each other and laugh at other people's indiscretions. Sometimes you see a person shouting to their friend or talking loudly on their phone so everyone can hear. Some might say that they just don't mind if people hear and they don't get embarrassed; I usually feel they actually are embarassing themselves they just aren't savvy enough to notice. Maybe if more people took O'Sullivan's Impression Management Model into account, they wouldn't be so brash with their communication.
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