People · Machine · object: Research on a single communication effect out

Author: Han Xiao (Communication University of China Media Fusion and Communication Associate Researcher of the National Key Laboratory, ESCI English Journal Global Media and China Editor -in -Chief)

Source: "Youth Reporter", No. 13, 2022

Is the dissemination effect been out of date?

Since the 1920s, despite the due diligence of many communication researchers, they have paid attention to the development and changes of the dissemination effect paradigm, but few scholars can accurately answer: What is the effect of communication? What is the theory of communication effect? From the "strong" effect phase (1910s-1930s) represented by the "subcutaneous injection theory" to the "weak" effect stage (1940S-1960s) represented by "two-level communication", to "agenda settings" "" agenda settings "" The "moderate" effect phase (1960S-1970s) represented by the theory of Hanhua "" The Silent Spiral ", and finally continued from the 1970s to the present. At the same time, it takes into account the" negotiation "effect of the media and the audience. "History" has gone through a century, but whether the effect is strong or weak, intentional or unintentional, long -term or short -term, or even exist, neither conclusion.

For the reason, Wei Ran pointed out that each scholar's research path, definition method and measurement means of the effect of communication are different, so the conclusions are naturally different. [1] British scholar David Gentelite criticized with a more aggressive tone that if a large number of empirical research after decades, he could not give a clear conclusion to the dissemination effect. Volkswagen communication, audience, and the entire society have adopted wrong methods, such as the negative impact of over -attention on pornography, violent content on children, and the "effect model" developed based on the laboratory environment and artificial hypothesis. [2].

After entering the 21st century, as the connotation and extension of the media have been redefined, in the age of the public media, the emphasis on the "mass" and "homogeneity" dissemination effects Adjustment-including "cognitive/emotional steering", focusing on the impact of entertainment programs on the audience, and gradually integrated with "Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) (ValkenBurg & Oliver, 2019) Essence However, an indisputable fact is that it is more and more outdated in today's complex media environment. So, the research of the communication effect really goes into trouble and has ended without illness? Or, in order to keep up with the changing development of communication technology, what kind of reflection and expectations should we hold on the effect of communication effects?

Recommend the theory of communication effect: three core paradigms

So far, the communication effect researchers have developed more than a hundred theories, involving changes in the aspects of cognition, belief, attitude, emotions and behaviors of individuals, public, institutions and society -micro or macro, long -term or long -term or long -term or or long -term or or long -term or or long -term or long -term or or long -term or long -term or long -term or long -term or long -term or long -term or long -term or long -term or periods of time Short -term, direct or indirect, intentional or unintentional, positive or negative, etc. [3]. At the same time, compared to the early media effect theory, scholars' influence on the effects of non -media factors such as social situations and individual character in the field of communication effects today, such as Valkenburg & Oliver, presents the following three characteristics: Selectivity, interconnection and individuality [4].

Selective. Although selectivity is one of the foundations of communication science, it was not until the 1950s that the "two -level communication" model that rejected linearly and highlights the audience's selectivity, and further extended two theories that surrounded the audience's subjective initiative. direction. The first is to discuss the interaction between the climate and the audience decision -making process. In this client, the "use and satisfaction" theory can be described as the most influential framework from the 1960s to the 1980s, and has been widely used in new media research. It is worth noting that in the context of the new media, "use and satisfaction" point more to "process satisfaction", not content satisfaction; this effect is not driven by the needs, goals, or beliefs of the media users in advance Instead, it is developed in the process of using the media. The other direction is based on the "acceptance theory" developed based on the perspective of the "active audience". It aims to study how the audience choose, use and understand the media to build and share the significance of its daily experience. Although this means that the audience has more options and can be easier to avoid uncoordinated or conflict information, the technical algorithm can also create "filtering bubbles" based on the preferences of the audience and selectively contact. house". Therefore, in the theory of contemporary communication effects, the communication effect can be understood as the result of interaction between media -based media use and scenario -based media use.

The interconnection is similar to selective paradigm. The interconnection communication effect model is still guided by the audience, which connects media use with the media effect. In this process, people sharing information based on social networks formed by interpersonal relationships, seeking and providing suggestions, forming affiliated relationships and loyalty, and establishing communities and trust. "Innovation diffusion theory" has become the core concept framework of this field. Since the 1950s, its core elements have been expanded by transmission researchers and used in social relations and interactions in the process of diffusion, and have been widely used to study how new media technology is used in organizations and community situations. Although these studies have made an important improvement in the theory of innovation diffusion, emphasizing the role of the use in the process of proliferation, including re -creation, critical quality and threshold, but in essence from the media The relationship between implicit acceptance, selection, satisfaction and meaning of meaning.

In the study of the current communication effect of individuality, another core feature is from "mass" and "homogeneity" to "individuality", that is, the communication effect is not equally effective for all audiences. It depends on the diverse social and environmental factors of the individual, emphasizing the selection process, not a well -known selective contact or selective exposure. From this perspective, Slater's "Reinforcement Spiral Model" [5], Shah, etc. "disseminating intermediary models" [6] and Petty & Cacioppo represent.

However, in the past few decades, the research on the effect of communication effect has relatively little attention to selective acceptance; even if there is some attention, it is mainly focused on individual differences in the cognitive processing of media content, not emotional levels. In fact, today's communication effect researchers are becoming more and more realized that the emotional process -such as the identity of the character or the emotional participation of the narrative is an important way to reflect the effect of the communication.

Theoretical upgrade: Start with "the public's self -propagation"

Although the research on the effect of spreading communication in recent years has shown a significant increase in quantity, it is not satisfactory in the development of "quality". As Walter and others observed, the use of theory of communication effects generally increased, but the development of new theories has slowed down significantly. We read more about the results of the use of the theory to prove or explain the results of the new media system under the new media, instead of proposing the theory of new dissemination effects with new names [8]. For example, early new media researchers generally continue the traditional communication effect paradigm to investigate the impact of information dissemination technology on user attitudes, values, behaviors and cognitions, or the impact of organizational structure, work performance or productivity [9]. Nevertheless, some scholars have tried to extend the claims of classic theory in the new media environment or introduce new theories.

Among them, Manuel Castle's "Volkswagen Self -Communication" is a typical representative. In the book "Communication Power" published in 2009, Caster described: "Call it to the public because it can be transmitted to the global audience. The content of the communication can also be acquired and selected to spread the content. "[10] Obviously, the proposal of" the public "provides an extension perspective for the traditional popular communication effect theory, because it not only pays attention to the influence of the unidirectional influence of the media information on the recipient information , Also pay attention to the feedback of producers.

The concept of "self -effect" proposed by Valkenburg has further formed a dialogue with "Volkswagen Self -Communication" [11]. Self -effect refers to the influence of information generator's cognition, emotion, attitude and behavior on the information generator itself. Especially in social media platforms, express attitudes, statements, and even choose avatars with specific appearance, which affects information receivers, but also affects the cognition, belief and attitude of information generators.

In addition, James Weberst, a professor of communication at Northwestern University of the United States, provides another beneficial visibility for the development of communication effects [12]. Although the audience currently has more media options in terms of social networks or daily life, their attention is limited; therefore, the evaluation dimension on media effects is from cognition, belief, attitude, emotion, and emotions, and The behavior turned to the audience's attention and formed the attention economy.

Although the theoretical innovation around "Volkswagen Self -Communication" is not enough to shake the dominant position of the theory of the public communication effect, such as the "evergreen tree" such as agenda settings, culverts, innovation diffusion, use and satisfaction, social acquisition, and media system dependence on the media system The theory, but its emergence allowed us to re -examine the significance and influence of human experience and communication technology, as well as media on society, culture, political, and public life.

Key concept upgrade: from the audience to the user

A universal consensus, the traditional communication effect mode of linear and destination theories is no longer applicable to the digital age. This article believes that the fundamental reason is that the connotation of the audience has changed. The audience is a key category in the era of radio and television, representing collective identities; at the same time, individual consumers who accept large -scale production content together constitute this broader abstract unit.

However, the booming development of digital technology has given a new communication mechanism as an audience of the basic element of the society. At the stage of social media budding, American communication scholar Henry Jenkins proposed the concept of "participating culture", pointing out that the audience is an unprecedented and proactive posture creative text text, the content of the media, and strengthening the network exchanges in order to strengthen network exchanges. This creates a new media style of freedom, equality, openness, tolerance, and sharing [13]. Since then, "user" has become a popular term that replaces the audience in the digital age. In essence, users and the audience are not synonymous, and the two stem from different or even contrary to academic traditions [14]. Modern user concepts are produced in a special tool, that is, computers. Looking back at the development history of computer science, from the "control theory" of Norbert Wiener, to the "people -computer coexistence" and "computers of the device" of Joseph Lichader, to Allen Kay's For general computers, it is not difficult to find that users are in personal computers.

Therefore, users present a completely different connotation as the audience. First, users and technology are integrated and inseparable. In other words, no matter from which perspective, "technology has a positive and close connection with the needs, capabilities, products and effects of users and other people" [15]. In addition, in stark contrast to the "audience -consumption" model, users emphasize that production is not only about real -time, continuous, operable control and directional feedback, but also creative products produced by technical relations [ 16].

This also provides a strong support for the "Production Turn" of the Digital Age of Digital Dispving the theory. Today, production is no longer an isolated element in Volkswagen, nor is it a professional practice in the radio and television industry, but the multilateral process of users' content creation and bottom -up. The user's production aesthetics include not only participation, free expression, creation, and connection, but also reflected in the generation, use and association with the technical ecological environment (including business, services and platforms). At the same time, the users of the producer are closely related to their own identity cognition. It not only represents the integration of individuals and technology, but also the integration of daily life, political economy and digital labor.

Reflection: Future map of the Research on the Effect of Communication

Today, with the speed of the iteration of intelligent technology, media users are permanently connected and permanently connected. Media use and media effects can be achieved at any place, any time, and any types of content. More importantly, the research paradigm of the communication effect is not only related to users and producers, but also the social value of the creators, agents, engineers, designers, marketingists, and social values ​​embedded in the entire development process. Therefore, we urgently need new theories, concepts, and methods to give communication effects to study new vitality.

This article believes that the "software research" of emerging fields will bring a new starting point to today's communication effect research. It combines the perspective of humanities and computer science to explore various software elements -such as: algorithms, code, program, user interface, etc., which makes significance for all fields such as contemporary industry, cultural production and media use (see Berry, 2014 [2014 [2014 [ 17]; Fuller, 2006 [18]; Manovich, 2001 [19]). According to Software media researcher Vincet Miller, human survival language domain has been colonized by software that can directly participate in our emotional experience [20]. Therefore, the user experience is constantly designing the user and the problem of providing, designing, controlling technology, and services. Phenomenon.

On this basis, we can join the macro mechanism of modern society to make up for the micro -limitation of the research on communication effects. One of the core issues is time. With the acceleration of the iteration of technology, society has accelerated into an integral part of the modern social structure, accompanied by the penetration of "Speed ​​Culture" in people's daily life and work. Especially today's social media platforms and their related application design and practical concepts also reflect the strong logic of pursuit of immediately, time, all moment, and synchronization at this moment. How does the time order pursuing speed affect our survival significance and value?

Needless to say, the research of communication science is facing the social media ecosystem that is continuously broken and full of new challenges. Therefore, the research subject and object of the media effect have undergone corresponding changes. For example, social robots have developed into an important participation variable for social media to spread ecology, which has a significant impact on politics, economy, and society. At present, social robots in the social media have made scholars realize that humans are no longer the only subject in the process of social interaction. The machine has become the object of emerging exchanges, and the spread has begun to span the boundaries of human beings. What's more important is that social robots are not simple equivalent to automatic programming intelligence participating in human social interaction. Their intervention of human communication activities will reconstruct the relationship between people and technology, people, people, and society. In this situation, what new ideas, assumptions, and models will be given to the theoretical design of social robots into the theoretical design of communication effects? This article believes that the theoretical path of "Human-Computer Interaction" can be introduced to redefine human beings, as well Essence At the same time, with the strong rise of social robots, false information is also full of network space, which leads to a theoretical blind spot for the study of communication effects: under the context of "post -truth", long -term contact errors, false information, and anti -anti -anti -anti -fate Does the facts make the user a cognitive distortion? [21] Because of the effects of media effect research on "real" information. Here, Nueman suggests that the media effect researchers can use big data to continuously and long -term monitoring of information obtained by users through social media platforms, and establish a real -time evaluation system to measure the effect of multiple types of information on users.

In short, the communication effect does exist, and it is not minimal. We should use cross -disciplinary thinking to break the traditional boundaries of communication effects to expand the imagination of "effect research". This article is optimistic about the future road of communication effect research, and defines its core issues as user power related to media technology and the impact on society. This includes a new existence model through media practice such as design, production, control, guidance, and monitoring. It is also associated with the media ecology that users live in and their embedded social systems, and eventually they are in different situations. The individual and social groups have an impact.

Reference format for this article:

Han Xiao. People · Machine · object: Research on the effect of a single communication [J]. Young reporter, 2022 (13): 24-27.

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