Medium Naturalness
The naturalness of a communication medium is defined, in media naturalness theory, as the degree of similarity of the medium with the face-to-face medium. The face-to-face medium is presented as the medium enabling the highest possible level of communication naturalness, which is characterized by the following five key elements: (1) a high degree of co-location, which would allow the individuals engaged in a communication interaction to see and hear each other; (2) a high degree of synchronicity, which would allow the individuals to quickly exchange communicative stimuli; (3) the ability to convey and observe facial expressions; (4) the ability to convey and observe body language; and (5) the ability to convey and listen to speech.
Media naturalness theory predicts that any electronic communication medium allowing for the exchange of significantly less or more communicative stimuli per unit of time than the face-to-face medium will pose cognitive obstacles to communication. In other words, media naturalness theory places the face-to-face medium at the center of a one-dimensional scale of naturalness, where deviations to the left or right are associated with decreases in naturalness (see Figure 1).
Electronic media that enable the exchange of significantly more communicative stimuli per unit of time than the face-to-face medium are classified by media naturalness theory as having a lower degree of naturalness than the face-to-face medium. As such, those media are predicted to be associated with higher cognitive effort; in this case due primarily to a phenomenon known as information overload, which is characterized by individuals having more communicative stimuli to process than they are able to.
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Famous quotes containing the word medium:
“The role of the writer is not simply to arrange Being according to his own lights; he must also serve as a medium to Being and remain open to its often unfathomable dictates. This is the only way the work can transcend its creator and radiate its meaning further than the author himself can see or perceive.”
—Václav Havel (b. 1936)