Mass Communication

The Changing Scope of Mass Communication

Historically, the subject of mass communication research was clearly distinct from other forms of communication. Mass media were created by organizations rather than individuals; were targeted to large, anonymous, and dispersed audiences; and offered limited opportunities for feedback. However, the scope of the field is shifting in response to digital communication technologies. These technologies have created new forms of media such as digital games, web pages, mobile apps, and social media platforms. Furthermore, they are changing how traditional forms of mass media are created, disseminated, and used. Many of the characteristics that distinguished mass media from other types of communication, and thus the subject of mass communication from those of other specialties, are becoming less [Page 914]distinct. For example, the lower costs of digital production and distribution allow individuals to communicate in ways once limited to organizations with extensive resources of capital and expertise. Today, a band can record and mix an album on a laptop without professional studio equipment. By leveraging platforms such as YouTube or iTunes, they can disseminate and promote their music online without a music label. Organizations are no longer the exclusive creators of mass-distributed messages. Digital communication technologies have facilitated other changes such as media fragmentation (i.e., the increasing number of media outlets targeting ever-narrower audience segments) and tailoring (e.g., search results that are customized based on previous searches). Due to these trends, the target audiences for individual messages are now often relatively small and are less anonymous. For example, web and mobile advertising can be delivered to an extremely specific set of users and automatically tailored to individual interests.

Despite the ongoing changes, the communication processes that mass communication research focuses on still tend to be asymmetric. That is, there are more users of a particular message than there are creators/disseminators, the users tend to have less control, and more information tends to pass from the creators/disseminators to the users than vice versa. Furthermore, the messages of mass communication are not exclusively means of creative or artistic expression. Rather they are intended to provide some benefit to the creators and disseminators, either in the form of revenue (e.g., sales, subscriptions, donations, or advertising) or in less tangible ways such as increases in visibility, wider brand recognition, stronger brand identity, or a wider market share in other areas.

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