Assignment #3, Option 2...so many options, so many motivations

With all the social interactions we make on a day-to-day basis, and all the various mediums we have to choose from to make these interactions, we have a great deal of options when it comes to what we want to communicate, who we want to communicate with, and how we want to communicate. Reflecting on my experiences with this assignment, I tried to come to some sort of conclusion of whether or not the Media Richness Theory or the O'Sullivan model were more accurate in terms of how we communicate and why. However, there are really so many more factors that come into play when choosing a medium to communicate, and it was not as easy as I had hoped to come to this sort of conclusion. I still find myself leaning back and forth between the two theories, partially because for the most part I was communicating with someone I already knew quite well, so impression management was not really a factor.

The first social interaction I chose to reflect on for this assignment took place over the weekend, when my roommates and I decided to have a party, but that we didn’t want it to be too big. There were a few select people that I wanted to be there-namely, my closest friends here- and so I decided to invite them in person, when I saw them the night before we were having our party. At first it was hard for me to decide the valence and locus of this interaction because it really wasn’t about just me wanting to invite them (a positive valence and locus of others), but it also had to do with my not wanting to invite other people, my wanting to specify that I didn’t want it to be a big thing, the convenience of my hanging out with them the night before, etc. But ultimately, the communication that took place had a positive valence and a locus of other (the fact that we wanted to invite them was a positive message geared toward them), and according to the O’Sullivan theory, this would be the least likely situation to prefer mediated communication, which indeed I did not do. On the other hand, the message was not a very ambiguous one—to dole out an invite does not include much equivocality at all, so in this case, according to the Media Richness Theory, I should have chosen a leaner medium than FtF for this communication. So with my first example, while I struggled at first with trying to simplify my motivations to comply with the theories, I came to the conclusion that the O’Sullivan theory fit with my experience much more than the Media Richness Theory.

The second social interaction that I chose to reflect on for this assignment was a very simple communication that took place between me and my boyfriend. He was visiting Ithaca this weekend and later in the day after he left, I sent him a text message to make sure he got home alright and to thank him for visiting. I would say this message also has a positive valence and a locus of other, and yet I chose a very lean channel by which to communicate this message, which obviously does not comply with the O’Sullivan theory. Instead, because the equivocality was low, I chose a lean medium, which fit much better with the Media Richness Theory. However, I didn’t choose a text in this case simply because the equivocality was low, but essentially because I didn’t feel like spending the time to call and have a whole conversation when there was only one thing I wanted to say, so a text was just more convenient and efficient. Overall, what I’ve found with this assignment is that both theories are legitimate and apply to certain situations, but that the most important factor for me was not necessarily equivocality, valence, or locus, as much as convenience. If it’s easier for me at the time to send a text, because I don’t feel like having a full out conversation, then that’s what I’ll do. But if I’m around people anyway, then I wouldn’t wait to send them a text or a facebook message after the fact to invite them to a party since it’s easiest to do it right then in person. While ambiguity, clarity, valence, locus, and efficiency are all relevant considerations, there are other important factors that come into play, and our motivations may not always be as simple as we might like them to be.

my comments:

http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/09/3-option-2-my-media-selections.html

http://comm245green.blogspot.com/2007/09/3-weekend-chock-full-o-media-choices.html