Nancy Baym (2010), presents seven various concepts that help to contrast media sources with one another and in-person communication. The concepts include “interactivity, temporal structure, social cues, storage, replicability, reach, and mobility” (Baym, 2010, p. 6). Overall, each notion explains individual differences between various means of interaction, which can be reflected in the personal communication of a college student in the digital age.
First, the concept of interaction implies the degrees and types of back and forth communication that media can provide. Through interaction, the Internet provides me with opportunities to interact with friends who go to different universities as opposed to the face-to-face communication that we used to have. Second, temporal structure implies the time it takes to receive and send a message. Asynchronous communication allows me to talk to friends, yet not to disrupt my studies and other responsibilities. Third, social cues help to derive the necessarily shared context during the communication. Social cues make social interactions easier for me, as they save the time otherwise needed to explain each symbol’s meaning.
Furthermore, the concept of storage implies the ability to access the data later. In my experience, the opportunity to store information will enable me to keep track of commitments, which makes college students’ lives easier. Moreover, the replicability concept allows one to send identical messages, knowledge, and data. For a college student, replicability may help with quickly finding news about particular events on campus and inviting friends, as messages are easy to replicate. In addition, communication varies based on the number of individuals it can reach. To me, conversations with a limited number of participants feel more valuable and personal than discussions on forums. Lastly, the concept of mobility allows for messages and media to be moved between devices and storage units, regardless of the user’s location. Versatility is essential for a college student because it allows me to access data using a laptop from any place on campus or outside of it.
Nancy Baym designed seven concepts that help to distinguish different types of communication sources. The notions are different based on the level of interaction, possible interruptions, context, ability to store and copy a message or data. Lastly, the way of communicating varies based on how many people can get in contact and the freedom of movement it provides.
Reference
Baym, N. K. (2010). Personal connections in the digital age. Polity.