Communication is not a simple transmission of ideas; the medium through which a message is conveyed significantly shapes its meaning, perception, and impact. Understanding the limitations and affordances of different media is crucial for effective communication.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
there are so many ways to answer the
question how are you but a lot of us
default to a word that can mean a ton of
different things fine you can say I'm
fine or I'm fine or even I'm fine
you can say it in an email to your boss
but firing off that word without an
introduction or sign off might totally
confuse them wait that's not what you're
supposed to say there should be other
things before and after the fine all of
these contexts change and influence and
sometimes even determine the impact of
this f-word technology in particular
offers a ton of contexts that affect our
messages from email to Twitter to
comments in a Google Doc no wonder it
can get overwhelming to send an email
but we're already cross media composers
writers who constantly respond to the
different needs and benefits of the
media we use and with practice we can
get better at crafting messages across
different media a move known as
remediation by the end of this video
you'll hopefully be feeling well if not
fine at least a little better we're
talking about remediation today in study
hall composition presented by Arizona
State University and crash course I'm
Yoona Sami let's get started [Music]
[Music]
the transmission airy model of
communication is the theory that when we
write we share an idea and the audience
receives the same idea
think about airdrop and other technology
for sharing photos between phones you
can tap one button on your phone and
your picture appears on the other
person's screen that's a direct
transmission but in our previous video
we began discussing a famous quote from
media theorist Marshall McLuhan
the medium is the message a medium is
any where we compose or share a text
it's like the string between two tin
cans when kids play telephone your
message has to travel through the medium
before the other person receives it and
the medium effects what does and doesn't
show up on the other side McClellan's
point goes against the transmission airy
model of communication he says that our
ideas don't go straight from our minds
into our readers Minds unchanged in fact
to him the medium completely shapes what
our audience gets from a message in
contrast to something like airdrop
McLuhan would argue communication is
more like someone saving a photograph
that they treasure and want to hand down
to their descendants they have special
memories attached to it that aren't
automatically visible in the picture
over the years it gets dropped in a
puddle squished in the pages of a book
and the old-timey ink on it gets faded
at the end the photographer's great
great-great grandchild briefly sees the
photo with the portrait now totally
changed and distorted the great
great-great grandchild probably thinks
what a weird collar or was the world
black and white back then rather than
thinking about the fond memories that
the original person saw in the photo the
medium of physical photograph completely
changes the way the photo is perceived
on the line our own writing experiences
can further disprove the transmission
airy model most of us have tried to
write something at some point and said I
can't say what I really mean even
translating from our heads to our
writing is an interpretation and a way
our original message can change plus the
medium shapes what we can say and then
the reader further interprets the
message based on their experiences and
expectations of that medium the whole
process is complicated and subjective
and it's kind of a miracle we can
communicate at all so while the
transmission Airy model is
oversimplified McLuhan's model isn't
perfect either media aren't the only
things that change messages the messages
themselves are up for interpretation by
the writer and the audience so it's not
as straightforward as either theory both
the medium and the idea matter we pay
careful attention
the words of our messages but also to
the way they're shaped by the medium we
choose we've already talked a lot about
how to compose words in the series and
different ways audiences might perceive
our words so in this video I really want
to focus on media because all
communication is mediated you know
express their medium and especially
these days there are tons of digital
media like how emails and text messages
and social media are all examples of
mediated communication even if we write
with a quill and ink on parchment paper
that mediums still shaped what we can
convey to others I mean I write way less
words total when I'm writing with a
quill because it takes a truly tedious
amount of time I can really get going
when it comes to blog posts because I
can type super fast and I'm really
passionate about my recipes for vegan
birthday cake all media come with
limitations but they also create
opportunities and options we call the
things you can do within a medium
affordances for example an affordance of
text messages is the ability to use
emojis to convey how you feel about a
particular conversation which can be
very useful face-to-face communication
may lack things like the ability to cite
our sources and footnotes but it does
include inflection facial expressions
and body language all of which
communicate extra complexity
these are affordances of face-to-face
speech the more we focus on affordances
and limitations the benefits and
drawbacks of a particular medium the
more informed we can be about which
medium to choose for our own messages
let's look at a writer in action who
chooses a new medium because she thinks
it will have a better effect on her
overall message Sasha loves reading
about climate science in academic
journals her friends however haven't
taken as many classes on things like the
effects of deforestation on Earth's
atmosphere they find the scientific
studies tough to read so they just don't
Sasha sees the affordances of scientific
journal articles for people who are
trying to learn more about environmental
science like she is these journal
articles include as much specific info
as needed to push their knowledge
forward on the other hand she sees the
constraints of an academic journal
article like how it doesn't have a lot
of eye-catching pictures and uses
language that not everyone understands
so to share her knowledge with her
friends and others instead of just
writing her own scientific studies Sasha
remediates some important messages about
the bad consequences of DeForest ation
she decides to start a YouTube channel
where a cute cat will sink
songs teach people about how and why
they should preserve forests kind of
like Smokey the Bear
but for Gen Z in this case YouTube is a
great place to reach a wider audience
use some funny and adorable cat pictures
and share the key takeaways of the
scientific research if she's lucky
they'll even get stuck in people's heads
another affordance of catchy songs that
might make people think twice before
buying unsustainably harvested products
as with any remediation sasha has to be
careful that she's not interpreting the
original articles incorrectly and
there's a chance for losing some
important stuff in translation but
knowing the affordances and constraints
of each medium can help her address her
specific audience and communicate the
best way she can sasha is a writer in
action one way to become better at
remediation is to practice a technique
called comparative media analysis when
you know the core of your message
comparing potential medium platforms can
help you find a particularly useful or
appropriate way to share it first write
out your message without thinking about
the medium too much yes technically a
sheet of paper is a medium with
constraints and affordances but work
with me here write down your first
thoughts on how you want to share this
idea an instagram caption on a photo for
instance or a podcast interview with an
expert or splashy advertisement in your
school's print newspaper write out the
limitations the medium imposes some
media restrict length style or number of
photos you can use with your message
some require people to read while others
let them listen next write some of the
expectations of the medium which can be
limitations or affordances audiences
expect a certain type of message to get
into a school newspaper for instance and
they expect that an Instagram caption
will be connected to its photo in some
way then think about all the special
positives or affordances of the medium
academic writing for instance lets you
carefully share all of your sources so
if part of your goal is for people to
read more on the topic an academic
article with some hyperlinked sources
might be really useful finally rewrite
your message the way that would work
best given these limitations affordances
and expectations if it hasn't changed at
all try to think a little deeper about
what makes this medium unique when you
try writing out the limitations
expectations and affordances for a few
different media you might see where your
message could shine the brightest and
where it could be awkward or ineffective
in the process you might even change
your own interpretation of your message
maybe you find some core point that you
anticipated imagine if Sasha realized
that she wants to address all kinds of
air pollution not just the impact of
deforestation maybe it's harder to make
a song about air pollution but she could
make some infographics to share
alongside her videos we never really
arrived at a perfect medium for a
message so we keep trying things and
attempting new remediations over time
sure sometimes you'll have to stick with
the medium given to you your boss may
not let you deliver the weekly report as
an interpretive dance even if you think
you've perfected your message in that
form still comparing multiple media can
help you understand what your audience
will see in the message when they view
it through your particular medium as
we've discovered media contexts and
remediation are both messy and
complicated we can use our understanding
to be more precise and effective as we
think critically about context the
medium is much more important to how we
can pose and communicate than we might
have assumed so limitations affordances
and expectations of the medium play a
big role in the message that our
audience receives so don't overanalyze
it but do pay attention be aware of your
media and be aware of how people tell
you that they're fine join us for our
next video where we'll talk about how
strategies and ways of appealing to our
audience can help us achieve our
purposes for writing thanks for watching
study-hall composition which is produced
by Arizona State University and the
crash course team at complexly if you
liked this video and want to keep
learning with us here in study hall be
sure to subscribe you can learn more
about ASU and the video is produced by
crash course in the links in the
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
