For this assignment I’ve chosen the second option to describe different instances of media selection. The first instance was on Sunday morning when I called one of my friends to tell her about the night before. It wasn’t anything bad or embarrassing; it was just a funny story that happened to me the night before. In this instance, the locus would be self, and the valence would be negative. According to the Impression Management Model, I would be least likely to choose a lean media if this were the case, and that’s how I felt. I wanted to tell my story and get instant feedback and be able to hear the tone of the voice on the other line, rather than do it over Instant Messenger (funny stories are never as funny when you tell them online anyway). This particular instance could also be used to support the Media Richness Theory, since calling my friend was the most efficient medium I could use (it was pouring Sunday and she doesn’t live too close).
The second instance I’m going to talk about didn’t happen to me. One of my friends from home, Kayla, was mad at our other friend for going to a concert with her ex-boyfriend and wanted to confront her about it. According to the Media Richness Theory, she would confront our other friend either face-to-face or on the phone because it is a more equivocal task. However, Kayla chose to talk to the other girl online, which is what the Impression Management Model suggests. When the locus is other and the valence is negative, a person is much more likely to use a mediated channel to communicate. These two examples, as well as other conversations I have observed, demonstrate that the Impression Management Model is a more accurate portrayal of how people actually communicate.
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In your first media selection example, you described a situation in which you called your friend to relay information about a funny story. You stated that your example was supported by both the Impression Management Model and the Media Richness Theory; however, I would like to share why I think it is really only best explained by the Media Richness Theory. According to O’Sullivan’s model of impression management, one would prefer a mediated interaction when valence is expected to be negative and locus is expected to be the self. In your example, you said that your funny story would be focused on yourself and the valence would be negative—a confession. Consequently, this should have encouraged you to want to use IM as opposed to the phone to share your story, allowing you to create a buffer and exercise maximum control. If your story had had positive valence you would then have wanted to converse on the phone, which would have enabled you to boost yourself. Though I don’t agree with your assertion about O’Sullivan’s model, I do agree with you that this example can be explained by Media Richness Theory. Because sharing your story was a more equivocal task, you would have wanted to choose a richer medium like the phone because of the availability of instant feedback and the multiplicity of cues, which would be important for you to use and assess when sharing a negatively valenced story about yourself.
for the first example i meant to say the valence is positive!!
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