Using communication principles to analyze blogs and super girls

When Hunan Satellite TV's "Super Girl" program became popular across the country last year, many people paid attention to the mixed use of mass communication and interpersonal communication methods, such as the square array of singer supporters in the TV studio, mobile phones The SMS voting method is regarded as the introduction of mass communication to interpersonal communication methods.

The problem is that when mass communication introduces interpersonal communication, it seems to add a lot of sensationalism. "Super Girl" is a typical example. In the studio, the interaction between the singer's supporters and the participating girls is It is a very strong emotion, and of course it will have an impact on the audience in front of the TV. This is different from the live audience we usually see on TV. In many programs, the live audience we see seems to be visitors and curious people of the TV station. They are basically the foils of the host and guests, and are relatively dull. .

Although the number of live audiences has also increased, why are CCTV's "Tell the Truth" and "Dialogue" programs relatively calm? One explanation is that the role of the live audience for both shows was more symbolic. Therefore, this kind of program has relatively high requirements for the host. Cui Yongyuan is very good at mobilizing the emotions of the audience.

Is mass communication more objective than interpersonal communication?

Mass communication is institutional communication and organizational communication, while interpersonal communication is personal communication. In theory, group communication is more objective than individual communication. This is because group communication requires consistency and a unified will, while individual communication is more casual, without discipline and is more subjective. For example, when disseminating information, the audience usually trusts the news spread by the media more than the personal rumors. Objectivity plays a big role in this.

Relatively speaking, mass communication has fewer intermediate links than interpersonal communication, so the degree of distortion in the information spread by mass communication is also smaller than that of interpersonal communication. At the same time, mass communication has powerful technical means and hardware facilities, which can ensure that the speed of mass communication is better than interpersonal communication. In today's rapidly changing world, the speed of information dissemination often represents the objective fairness of the media.

From here, it is not difficult for us to understand why the news media places special emphasis on the principle of objectivity. If the news media is full of subjectivity and sensationalism, then it will inevitably divide or even reduce its own audience. Subjectivity and emotion are like twin sisters. One of their common characteristics is that while some people like it particularly, it also makes other people dislike it. Therefore, when mass communication chooses subjective or emotional communication mode, it is somewhat risky. CCTV's "Art Life" can be said to take the path of emotional communication. Its host Zhu Jun is regarded as a master of sensationalism. Many years ago, another CCTV host Ni Ping was also considered a representative in this regard.

Interestingly, comments in the news media can be regarded as a kind of subjective communication, but the strategy they adopt is the balance of opinions, that is, relying on the self-correction of the opinion market. A single opinion is subjective. And a holistic or balanced perspective can lean toward objectivity. It is in this sense that online reviews give us many surprises. When people continue to discuss whether the Internet is a kind of media, we can’t see online editorials or commentator articles. They are more expressions of civilian opinions. We can’t even say that they reflect the opinions of grassroots organizations because the Internet is incomprehensible. The organizational characteristics are very obvious, which to a certain extent reflects the characteristics of interpersonal communication.

In interpersonal communication, subjectivity and emotion are usually factors that cannot be eliminated. In a sense, they have even become powerful weapons. Therefore, the spread of rumors and gossip is often paranoid, and its conflict with mass communication is obvious. Of course, this does not only include adding fuel and jealousy, but more importantly, I am afraid that in interpersonal communication, everyone often wears both hats. Dual-career, being both a referee and an athlete, both a communicator and a receiver.

What is the difference between mass communication and interpersonal communication?

The original information dissemination should be one-to-one, which is typical interpersonal communication. In the era of book communication, one-to-many communication appeared, which was the beginning of mass communication. Newspapers, magazines, radio and television have only developed one-to-many communication to the extreme. In the era of mass communication, individuals have transformed into institutions, and the status of communicators has been confirmed. In the bullet theory and the injection theory, the audience becomes a passive terminal. In the concept of opinion leaders, the initiative of the audience begins to be initially recognized. When we talk about secondary communication or multi-level communication, to some extent interpersonal communication has been included in the overall process of mass communication.

When mass communication turns one-to-one interpersonal communication into one-to-many, we have already begun to ask whether there are many-to-one and many-to-many communication? From the left side of the formula, we can see that imaginary changes have taken place in the communicator. Is it possible for the communicator to become more? In fact, in the opinion communication model, we can still be sensitive to this. The exchange of diverse opinions allows us to feel the complexity of the communicator from a certain perspective. However, does this alone constitute a large number of communicators? Because the communication of facts and the communication of opinions are very different in themselves. The former tends to be consistent, while the latter focuses on balance. This is why many people buy two newspapers, because in terms of the amount of information, the difference between major newspapers and tabloids is not as big as imagined, but it is more important to obtain a balance of viewpoints and cognition.

So, can the increase in TV channels and the huge number of newspapers and periodicals be regarded as the increase in communicators? According to the concept of cultural consumerism, the abundance of the market is the prerequisite for consumption. To a certain extent, only by changing from a seller's market to a buyer's market can we realize the weight of the audience. However, from another perspective, the segmentation of the media market is precisely a clarification of the audience. In short, it changes the audience from a general one to a detailed one.

The mass communication we usually understand is based on a vague audience, because the purpose of mass communication is to disseminate information to as many audiences as possible. Everyone is equal before the information, and there is no difference between the audiences. Therefore, what happens is that the audience has a relatively clear understanding of the communicator, while the communicator has a relatively vague understanding of the audience. Traditional interpersonal communication is relatively clear about its communication targets, and there are usually differences between the targets. Therefore, we can say that the circle of interpersonal communication is similar to a community, which excludes strangers, a bit like a community cafe. Mass communication is like a cafe in a busy city, always welcoming new audiences to join. As a result, its communication circle expands faster than interpersonal communication.

With the development of mass communication today, we are probably facing this problem for the first time, that is, communicators’ understanding of the audience has entered a precise stage. Our ratings surveys and the detailed readership data we obtain through self-distribution of newspapers and magazines give communicators more audience data than ever before. The question is, why do we need to do this? Is it for commercial purposes or for public service needs? Even if we need to know as much as possible, where are the limits of our understanding? Just as the TV ratings data are not equal to the audience's appreciation index, the audience is not a bunch of numbers. Therefore, do we need to grasp the degree of this understanding?

If we use more vivid language, can we say that mass communication embodies the desire of human beings to communicate, is an expression of romanticism, and reflects the conception of idealism. Of course, the premise is that it reflects more the intention and imagination of the communicator. Interpersonal communication reflects the hidden nature of human communication and is a portrayal of realism. It expresses more about the idea of ??communication object.

Quick transition is a major feature of mass communication. Whether it is the reprinting and column division of newspapers or periodicals, or the synchronization of TV news programs, they all speed up our reading speed. Modern technology has made mass communication even more powerful in the speed of communication. As a result, speed has become the primary factor in the success of news media.

In this case, it is almost impossible for readers to read through today's thick newspaper, and viewers can only hold the remote control and search for a large number of TV programs impetuously. In comparison, the speed of human-to-human transmission appears slow. However, the current methods of mass communication are affecting interpersonal communication. For example, the group sending function of mobile phone text messages has accelerated the speed of interpersonal communication.

From the perspective of feedback, interpersonal communication has more advantages. The on-site feeling of interpersonal communication and the directness of interpersonal communication provide it with a face-to-face communication field. Mass communication is a kind of tool communication, which is relatively indirect and not humane enough. The status of the communicator and the communication target is not equal enough. This results in the fact that the feedback of mass communication is to increase the effectiveness of communication, while the feedback of interpersonal communication is Feedback itself is a kind of communication, or this feedback has become a part of communication. CCTV's "Face to Face" program can be regarded as an organic combination of mass communication and interpersonal communication. The communication between reporter and host Wang Zhi and the interviewees includes questioning and feedback questions, which all have prominent characteristics of interpersonal communication. The difference is that it Broadcast to a large audience through the mass media television.

Who changed whom?

A traditional view is that TV hosts use more elements of interpersonal communication for mass communication. In the studio, the host communicates interpersonally with the audience and guests. Outside the venue, the host People communicate with a large number of viewers through television screens. Today, this approach is called anthropomorphic communication.

So, what we need to ask is, is there pseudo-mass communication? For example, are current mobile phone text messages considered a form of pseudo-mass communication? It seems that the one-to-one communication of mobile phone text messages is very personal and should be regarded as interpersonal communication. However, its forwarding and group sending functions form one-to-many communication, expand the scale of communication and increase the speed of communication, which make it It has certain characteristics of mass communication. During the SARS period in 2003, mobile phone text messages were extremely active. In normal times, text messages on mobile phones also contribute to the spread of political jokes and pornographic jokes. We can even find a pattern, that is, when mass communication experiences what we call a state of collective aphasia, mobile phone text messages become particularly active. From this perspective, interpersonal communication is like an effective supplement to mass communication. When mass communication presents vulnerable links, interpersonal communication will keep up in time and fill the gaps left by mass communication.

Today, what we see is more the integration and interaction of mass communication and interpersonal communication. You have me, and I have you. For example, according to conventional understanding, mass communication is relatively transparent and open, while interpersonal communication is relatively hidden and private. However, when we watch the particularly popular reality TV shows, we will naturally realize that mass communication The means of interpersonal communication are being used wantonly to amplify personal privacy, which directly contributes to society's collective desire for voyeurism. In fact, this is not only true for television, but also for newspapers and magazines. Starting from the book "Absolute Privacy" written by Beijing Youth Daily reporter An Deng, a trend of privacy exposure has also spread in the publishing industry.

The key to the question is, who changed whom between mass communication and interpersonal communication? In other words, what new things are produced by the integration and interaction of the two? Has mass communication become more sophisticated? Or has interpersonal communication caught up with the express train of mass communication? In other words, has the inherent form of mass communication undergone subtle changes? If there is such a change, what kind of change is it?

The discussion of many issues often brings us back to the starting point to look at the original motivation. Why do people need to spread news? In other words, what is the basic state and original motivation of news dissemination? Using the current media types as a comparison, which media is more in line with the original meaning of news communication? Is it the way of books or the mode of newspapers and periodicals? Today, the interpersonal communication characteristics of books are the most obvious. Its communication speed is slow and the communication cost is relatively high. Therefore, it has now been eliminated from the ranks of mass communication. In communication, scale and publicity are directly proportional under the same conditions, that is, the larger the scale, the stronger the publicity.

The Internet is the fastest among mass communications.

However, its interpersonal communication characteristics are also the most obvious. It may be that its interpersonal communication status prevents the growth of its mass communication status, so online comments develop very quickly. It can even be said that the Internet is mass communication formatted through interpersonal communication. Its mass communication is based on interpersonal communication. At the same time, it also has community-type niche communication, such as discussion groups, which reflect more of the original state of human communication.

The same is the dissemination of information. What is the difference between individual dissemination and group dissemination? What is the difference between official communication and private communication? Is disseminating news the prerogative of mass communication? In fact, since the birth of the Internet, such questions have been asked. For example, should the Internet have news gathering rights? Is the right to interview a civil right or an institutional franchise?

Compared with radio and television, newspapers and periodicals also retain certain characteristics of interpersonal communication. We can vaguely see such traces from the dazzling array of comments in newspapers and periodicals. As its name suggests, radio has the most obvious characteristics of mass communication, which is highlighted by the uncertainty of its listening place. This may be an important reason why it can be perfectly combined with mobile phone text messages. Even with a simple medium like radio, when it is combined with hotlines in the air, we can clearly see the strong impact of interpersonal communication on mass communication. In the past, we would stubbornly believe that mass communication must be more powerful than interpersonal communication. Therefore, when talking about changes, most people thought that mass communication squeezed or transformed interpersonal communication. However, today it seems that interpersonal communication may also quietly change mass communication. For example, the concepts of focus communication and niche communication, and the objectivity of professional channels are not just a simple reduction in the number of people, but also show subtle changes in mass communication methods to a certain extent.

Recently, Guo Degang, who talks about cross talk, has become very popular. It is said on the Internet that he has some criticisms of TV cross talk. It seems that television has brought negative influence to cross talk. Interestingly, theater crosstalk should be said to be a typical form of interpersonal communication. It is somewhat contradictory to the mass communication method of television. Therefore, we can see that in the development process of CCTV Spring Festival Gala, sketches have clearly surpassed crosstalk and gained the upper hand. Although many crosstalk actors have become famous by appearing on television, crosstalk itself does not seem to be promoted by television. This may be one of the reasons why Guo Degang and others insist on revitalizing traditional crosstalk in theaters. The same situation also happens in TV storytelling programs. Many TV people are busy for a long time in the program, and the ratings seem to be lower than that of Shan Tianfang standing in front of the screen and talking about storytelling. Phoenix TV's "Li Ao has something to say" and CCTV's "Hundred Forum" columns are also similar. Is the change of mass communication in interpersonal communication whether the geese are leaving their voices behind or the geese are plucking their hair?

Television communication has always been the realm pursued by many TV people, but in the face of a program like "Li Ao has something to say", what can they say? This kind of program is basically a framework for interpersonal communication, and they seem to simplify the form of mass communication to the extreme. In a sense, can we say that mass communication is sometimes a complication of interpersonal communication? Or, conversely, that interpersonal communication is sometimes a simplification of mass communication? From a purely communication reception perspective, it is more like we are using interpersonal communication to receive mass communication information.

Conclusion

The conclusion of this article is: Mass communication and interpersonal communication are interactive. Today’s mass communication is no longer the mass communication of the past. Similarly, today’s interpersonal communication has long been It is no longer the interpersonal communication of the past. No one can live without the other, there are contradictions, fusions, and even combinations among them. How to explain this combination? That is, mass communication can join forces with interpersonal communication to set off wave after wave of communication. For example, mass communication is very willing to spread things that can become topics of interpersonal communication. The result is that certain news reported by newspapers and periodicals can easily become the talk of the streets. This is actually what the media wants, especially the tabloids. For another example, many mass media like to conduct topic interviews, which is to solicit the audience's wishes. This is a typical manifestation of interpersonal communication extending to mass communication.

In the SARS report, we can even see such a communication curve. When there is a certain dumb language in mass communication, interpersonal communication quickly follows up to fill the gap. And when the mass communication wakes up later, it can What stabilized people's hearts became mass media. In this relatively special communication case, mass communication and interpersonal communication are combined to form a twists and turns of communication routes. The two borrow from each other, compensate for each other, oppose and transform, forming the communication ecology of our society. chain of transmission. After mass communication, interpersonal communication usually amplifies and deforms the content of mass communication. At the same time, this effect of interpersonal communication is likely to prompt the audience to return to mass communication again for verification.

What is the difference between fake news in mass communication and rumors in interpersonal communication? Is the combination of mass communication and interpersonal communication the ideal form of communication in our society? When mass communication has established hegemony and dominance, do we need to use interpersonal communication to confront it in order to maintain the balance of the social communication ecology? Even if we need to do this, what method can be used? On the one hand, the communicator camp is becoming more and more collective and large-scale; on the other hand, the way the audience accepts communication is becoming more and more personal and covert. Is this polarization of communication what we expect? In this case, is it possible for us to make mass communication more like interpersonal communication? Or, conversely, make interpersonal communication more like mass communication?

In the past monopoly period of publicly funded newspaper subscriptions, reading newspapers was similar to reading documents. The once popular group newspaper reading itself seemed to have some kind of coercive element. Obviously, we are unlikely to follow the old path today. This may be the reason why we have to recommend movie theaters. Movies are one of the few collective viewing items in our society today. When the smallest family in our society is having member disputes over channel selection, the group gold medal of the movie is particularly precious. , group viewing can leave us with collective memory to a certain extent. In the early days of television, it is hard for anyone to forget the excitement of collective viewing, and the fun involved may not be explained by compulsion. Such questions and phenomena are worthy of our consideration. (Author: Liu Hong/Professor of Communication University of China This article was published in "Young Reporter" Issue 7, 2006)