For this assignment I decided to identify and describe two instances of media selection. The first instance involves a communication with my father. In this communication I was telling my dad about the dues that needed to be paid to my fraternity this semester. I was told at the end of last semester that the dues would go down when new brothers were added to the fraternity in the spring, information I passed on to my father. This semester, however, I learned that instead of lowering dues, the budgets for the different boards in the chapter were increased. In effect, my dad now has to pay the same price when I told him he would pay less. I decided that the best way to break the news to him would be over email so I wouldn’t have to face the reaction of giving him misinformation. I emailed him telling him what the dues would be and why they had not decreased.
O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model would support my choice of a lean channel to communicate this information to my father. The valence of the episode was most definitely negative, as I was telling my dad that he was going to have to pay the same amount this semester after previously telling him it would be less. The locus of the issue was on the self, as my mistake was what the episode focuses on. According to O’Sullivan, when the valence is expected to be negative and the locus self, one would choose a mediated interaction more than in any other circumstance. I certainly reacted the way O’Sullivan predicts in this circumstance, trying to buffer the reaction to my mistake.
To continue on with the general theme of the first event, the second instance of media selection I will use is when I went home this past weekend. I had yet to receive the check from my father for the dues, so I decided that I would speak to him when I got home instead of emailing him again. When I saw him I sat down and explained to him, in detail, why the dues had not gone down and what was going to be done with the money this semester. Although he was still not happy, he was know clear on what was occurring.
The Media Richness Theory would explain my choice for face-to-face communication over this subject with my father. The theory states that more rich media would be chosen for communications that are equivocally high and that lean media would be used on less equivocal ones. The communication over my dues was going to be a little ambiguous and deceptive, not straight to the point, making it relatively equivocal. I needed to make everything sound legitimate, even if it meant glorifying the situation a little. It is for this reason that I chose the richer medium of face-to-face communication to speak to my father. Although O’Sullivan’s theory would again support me using a leaner channel due to the negative valence and self locus, it was the efficiency necessary in my face-to-face communication with my father, along with its equivocal nature, that caused me to choose the rich channel of face-to-face communication.
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/09/3-chatroom-convo.html
http://comm245blue.blogspot.com/2007/09/occupations-cause-stereotypes.html
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3 comments:
Using your experience, as well as my relationship with my father, I have determined that O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model isn't very scrupulous. My father has always instilled in me that f2f is the only "proper" way to communicate. I don't really subscribe to this school of thought, but I know from experience that shooting my dad an email to ask for something or to deliver some bad news is an awful idea. So even though the theory suggests I use a leaner medium to convey a message with a negative charge, in the case of my father, or with any one I respect, I always give them the courtesy of a rich medium, even if it means I have to deal with awkward or hostile interactions. You sort of contradict yourself saying that O'Sullivan supported your decision to email and talk face to face.
Using your experience, as well as my relationship with my father, I have determined that O’Sullivan’s Impression Management Model isn't very scrupulous. My father has always instilled in me that f2f is the only "proper" way to communicate. I don't really subscribe to this school of thought, but I know from experience that shooting my dad an email to ask for something or to deliver some bad news is an awful idea. So even though the theory suggests I use a leaner medium to convey a message with a negative charge, in the case of my father, or with any one I respect, I always give them the courtesy of a rich medium, even if it means I have to deal with awkward or hostile interactions. You sort of contradict yourself saying that O'Sullivan supported your decision to email and talk face to face.
I apologize for both posting twice and calling you a hypocrite. I retract my last statement. I hadn't read your post carefully enough the first time. You make a great point contrasting the two theories. I think that Media Richness Theory is more applicable to a wider range of scenarios than the Impression Management Model.
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