3, opt.2- Do you choose the right media?

Over the past week, I have used many different forms of media to communicate with different people. Friday night, I received several phone calls from a friend wanting me to go with her to a party. I however had promised someone already that I would go to another party and so did not want to answer her call. I knew if I did she would bug me non-stop until I went to this party. Now I have T-mobile and since it doesn’t have much service up here, my excuse of I didn’t get a phone call would surely work. However I accidently signed on to AIM on my computer right before I left and she must have been waiting for me to sign on because she sent a whole paragraph. I couldn’t ignore her and so figured talking on AIM would be easier than on the phone. I told her that I did not feel to good and was going to be staying in. This was a lean medium and seemed to serve me best. If I would have said it over the phone, my voice would have surely given away my lie. AIM provided an easy way to talk without me having to worry about my body language, facial expressions or voice tone to cover up my lie. It proved O’Sullivan’s theory because the lean medium decreased my chances of being detected and hid my lie. It also reduced the possible intensity of having a FtF conversation with her because she would be very persistent in me going.


My next selection of media communication was a phone call I made to my mother to defend my dog. I had just gotten a puppy before coming to school and had to leave him in my mother’s care while I went to school. He is in his teething stage where he is losing his baby teeth and growing in his adult teeth. As a result, he is chewing on everything he can find. To make a story short, my brother wrote to me stating that the dog had chewed the new aluminum siding on the house and my mom was not keeping him and would be bringing him to the shelter. I had to take immediate action and called my mom directly to defend the dog. We were able to argue it out and come to a compromise so that the dog would stay. I would send over chewy toys and bones to keep him distracted, and replace the aluminum siding that he chewed. The phone call was an example of rich medium and further proved O’Sullivan’s theory. This medium served best because I was able to provide immediate feedback to defend the dog. If it were over email, responses would take too long and she would lose patience. My voice also assured my mom I was not telling her lies about the dog teething and I would take care of it.


I commented on the following:
http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/09/thats_not_beer_in_my_pocket_dadim_just.html

http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/09/3_like_i_was_born_in_1975.html