1The Internet as Mass Medium.docx

1The Internet as Mass Medium.docx

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1TheInternetasMassMedium

TheInternetasMassMedium

MerrillMorris

ChristineOgan

IndianaUniversity

Introduction

TheInternethasbecomeimpossibletoignoreinthepasttwoyears.Evenpeoplewhodonotownacomputerandhavenoopportunityto"surfthenet"couldnothavemissedthenewsstoriesabouttheInternet,manyofwhichspeculateaboutitseffectsontheever-increasingnumberofpeoplewhoareonline.Why,then,havecommunicationsresearchers,historicallyconcernedwithexploringtheeffectsofmassmedia,nearlyignoredtheInternet?

With25millionpeopleestimatedtobecommunicatingontheInternet,shouldcommunicationresearchersnowconsiderthisnetworkofnetworksamassmedium?

Untilrecently,masscommunicationsresearchershaveoverlookednotonlytheInternetbuttheentirefieldofcomputer-mediatedcommunication,stayinginsteadwiththetraditionalformsofbroadcastandprintmediathatfitmuchmoreconvenientlyintomodelsforappropriateresearchtopicsandtheoriesofmasscommunication.

However,thispaperarguesthatifmasscommunicationsresearcherscontinuetolargelydisregardtheresearchpotentialoftheInternet,theirtheoriesaboutcommunicationwillbecomelessuseful.Notonlywillthedisciplinebeleftbehind,itwillalsomissanopportunitytoexploreandrethinkanswerstosomeofthecentralquestionsofmasscommunicationsresearch,questionsthatgototheheartofthemodelofsource-message-receiverwithwhichthefieldhasstruggled.ThispaperproposesaconceptualizationoftheInternetasamassmedium,basedonrevisedideasofwhatconstitutesamassaudienceandamediatingtechnology.Thecomputerasanewcommunicationtechnologyopensaspaceforscholarstorethinkassumptionsandcategories,andperhapseventofindnewinsightsintotraditionalcommunicationtechnologies.

ThispaperlooksattheInternet,ratherthancomputer-mediatedcommunicationasawhole,inordertoplacethenewmediumwithinthecontextofothermassmedia.Massmediaresearchershavetraditionallyorganizedthemselvesaroundaspecificcommunicationsmedium.Thenewspaper,forinstance,isamorepreciselydefinedareaofinterestthanprinting-press-mediatedcommunication,whichembracesmorespecializedareas,suchascompanybrochuresorweddinginvitations.Ofcourse,thereisfarmorethanasemanticdifferencebetweenconceptualizinganewcommunicationtechnologybyitscommunicativeformthanbythetechnologyitself.Thetraditionofmasscommunicationresearchhasacceptednewspapers,radio,andtelevisionasitsobjectsofstudyforsocial,political,andeconomicreasons.Astechnologychangesandmediaconverge,thoseresearchcategoriesmustbecomeflexible.

ConstraintsonInternetResearch

MasscommunicationsresearchershaveoverlookedthepotentialoftheInternetforseveralreasons.TheInternetwasdevelopedinbitsandpiecesbyhobbyists,students,andacademics（Rheingold,1994）.Itdidn'tfitresearchers'ideasaboutmassmedia,locked,astheyhavebeen,intomodelsofprintandbroadcastmedia.Computer-mediatedcommunication（CMC）atfirstresembledinterpersonalcommunicationandwasrelegatedtothedomainofotherfields,suchaseducation,managementinformationscience,andlibraryscience.Thesefields,infact,havebeendoingresearchintoCMCfornearly20years（Dennis&Gallupe,1993;O'Shea&Self,1983）,andmanyoftheirideasaboutCMChaveprovenusefulinlookingatthephenomenonasamassmedium.Botheducationandbusinessresearchershaveseenthecomputerasatechnologythroughwhichcommunicationwasmediated,andbothlinesofresearchhavebeenconcernedwiththeeffectsofthisnewmedium.

Disciplinarylineshavelongkeptresearchersfromseeingthewholepictureofthecommunicationprocess.CathcartandGumpert（1983）recognizedthisproblemwhentheynotedhowspeechcommunicationdefinitions"haveminimizedtheroleofmediaandchannelinthecommunicationprocess"（p.267）,evenasmasscommunicationdefinitionsdisregardedthewaysmediafunctionininterpersonalcommunication:

"Wearequiteconvincedthatthetraditionaldivisionofcommunicationstudyintointerpersonal,groupandpublic,andmasscommunicationisinadequatebecauseitignoresthepervasivenessofmedia"（p.268）.

ThemajorconstraintondoingmasscommunicationresearchintotheInternet,however,hasbeentheoretical.Insearchingfortheoriestoapplytogroupsoftwaresystems,researchersinMIShaverecognizedthatcommunicationstudiesneedednewtheoreticalmodels:

"TheemergenceofnewtechnologiessuchasGSS（GroupSupportSystems,softwarethatallowsgroupdecision-making）,whichcombineaspectsofbothinterpersonalinteractionandmassmedia,presentssomethingofachallengetocommunicationtheory.Withnewtechnologies,thelinebetweenthevariouscontextsbeginstoblur,anditisunclearthatmodelsbasedonmassmediaorface-to-facecontextsareadequate"（Poole&Jackson,1993,p.282）.

Notonlyhavetheoreticalmodelsconstrainedresearch,butthemostbasicassumptionsbehindresearchers'theoriesofmassmediaeffectshavekeptthemfrombeingabletoseetheInternetasanewmassmedium.DeFleurandBall-Rokeach'sattitudetowardcomputersinthefiftheditionoftheirTheoriesofMassCommunication（1989）istypical.Theycomparecomputerstotelephones,dismissingtheideaofcomputercommunicationasmasscommunication:

"Evenifcomputerliteracyweretobecomeuniversal,andevenifeveryhouseholdhadapersonalcomputerequippedwithamodem,itisdifficulttoseehowanewsystemofmasscommunicationcoulddevelopfromthisbasealone"（pp.335-336）.ThefactthatDeFleurandBall-Rokeachfinditdifficulttoenvisionthisdevelopmentmaywellbearesultoftheirownconstrainedperspective.Takingthetelephoneanalogyastepfurther,LanaRakow（1992）pointsoutthatthelackofresearchonthetelephonewasdueinparttoresearchers'inabilitytoseeitasamassmedium.Thetelephonealsobecamelinkedtowomen,whoembracedthemediumasawaytoovercomesocialisolation.

RethinkingDefinitions

However,anewcommunicationtechnologycanthrowthefacadesoftheoldintosharprelief.MarshallMcLuhan（1960）recognizedthiswhen,speakingofthecomputer,hewrote,"Theadventofanewmediumoftenrevealsthelineamentsandassumptions,asitwere,ofanoldmedium"（p.567）.Ineffect,anewcommunicationtechnologymayperformanalmostpostmodernfunctionofmakingtheunpresentableperceptible,asLyotard（1983）mightputit.Increatingnewconfigurationsofsources,messages,andreceivers,newcommunicationtechnologiesforceresearcherstoexaminetheirolddefinitions.Whatisamassaudience?

Whatisacommunicationmedium?

Howaremessagesmediated?

DanielBell（1960）recognizedtheslipperynatureofthetermmasssocietyandhowitsmanydefinitionslackedasenseofreality:

"Whatstrikesoneaboutthesevariedusesoftheconceptofmasssocietyishowlittletheyreflectorrelatetothecomplex,richlystriatedsocialrelationsoftherealworld"（p.25）.Similarly,thetermmassmedia,withitsrootsinideasofmasssociety,hasalwaysbeendifficulttodefine.Thereismuchatstakeinhangingontotraditionaldefinitionsofmassmedia,asshownintheconsiderableanxietyinrecentyearsoverthelossofthemassaudienceanditsimplicationsfortheliberalpluraliststate.Theconvergenceofcommunicationtechnologies,asrepresentedbythecomputer,hassetoffthisfearofdemassification,asaudiencesbecomemoreandmorefragmented.Thepoliticalandsocialimplicationsofmassaudiencesandmassmediagobeyondthescopeofthispaper,butthecurrentuneasinessanddiscussionoverthetermsthemselvesseemtoindicatethattheoldideaofthemassmediahasreacheditslimit（Schudson,1992;Warner,1992）.

Criticalresearchershavelongquestionedtheassumptionsimplicitintraditionalmediaeffectsdefinitions,lookinginsteadtothesocial,economic,andhistoricalcontextsthatgaverisetoinstitutionalconceptionsofmedia.Suchanalysis,Fejes（1984）notes,canleadtoanotherunquestioningsetofassumptionsaboutthemedia'sabilitytoaffectaudiences.AsAng（1991）haspointedout,abandoningtheideaofthemassmediaandtheiraudiencesimpedesaninvestigationofmediainstitutions'powertocreatemessagesthatareconsumedbyrealpeople.Ifthecategoryofmassmediumbecomestoofuzzytodefine,traditionaleffectsresearcherswillbeleftwithoutdependentvariables,andcriticalscholarswillhavenomeansofdiscussingissuesofsocialandpoliticalpower.

AnewcommunicationtechnologysuchastheInternetallowsscholarstorethink,ratherthanabandon,definitionsandcategories.WhentheInternetisconceptualizedasamassmedium,whatbecomesclearisthatneithermassnormediumcanbepreciselydefinedforallsituations,butinsteadmustbecontinuallyrearticulateddependingonthesituation.TheInternetisamultifacetedmassmedium,thatis,itcontainsmanydifferentconfigurationsofcommunication.Itsvariedformsshowtheconnectionbetweeninterpersonalandmasscommunicationthathasbeenanobjectofstudysincethetwo-stepflowassociatedthetwo（Lazarsfeld,Berelson,&Gaudet,1944）.ChaffeeandMutz（1988）havecalledforanexplorationofthisrelationshipthatbegins"withatheorythatspellsoutwhateffectsareofinterest,andwhataspectsofcommunicationmightproducethem"（p.39）.TheInternetoffersachancetodevelopandtorefinethattheory.

Howdoesitdothis?

Throughitsverynature.TheInternetplayswiththesource-message-receiverfeaturesofthetraditionalmasscommunicationmodel,sometimesputtingthemintotraditionalpatterns,sometimesputtingth