The theory of communication within the framework of humanitarian knowledge considers this concept primarily from the point of view of a variety of mass communication of people. As evidenced by the science of the foundations and principles of communication (this is linguistics), each social system is aimed at the formation of a value-normative structure (i.e., ideology as an indicative basis for the life of this particular society). A society that is at a high level of development of civilization prioritizes general humanitarian values, such as human rights, social justice, democracy, etc. Mass media (printed, visual, Internet resources, etc.) are actively used, thanks to which attitudes are formed public to certain events in the world. Also, communication in science acquires its importance. Newspapers, radio channels, television, the Internet - all these tools contributed to the process of everyday communication between subjects andintegration of their spiritual life.
Scientific role
Communication plays an equally important role in modern science. The development of mass media has significantly increased the possibilities of scientific and cultural exchange in society, the transfer of cultural achievements. The means of mass communication are used as the formation of a kind of psychological phenomenon - the so-called special "space" - both in socio-political and cultural-ideological terms. Under these conditions, public consciousness acquires a more differentiated and structured order.
Mass Communication Functions
In science, it has been noted that the rapidly increasing volume of mass media has become one of the main features of modern society. Not only the possession of material goods is an indicator of power and solvency in modern society. Ownership of information resources is also becoming an attribute of the social status of individuals and groups. The science of the basics and principles of communication comes to the conclusion that the emergence of an information explosion in modern society has an increasing impact on its citizens. A specific psychological type of modern man is being formed. In the process of comparison and struggle of political positions, opinions and views, the public becomes aware of urgent social problems.
In addition to the informative function, communicative acts can perform expressive(emotional arousal) and social contact function. The theory of communication as a science considers the media as regulators of mass forms of behavior. The task of these regulators is to form the views of the general population, influence their emotional sphere, etc. With their help, various areas of the economy, politics, social services, culture, communication, etc. are widely covered. media consumption.
Means of mass communication
If initially the mass media were created to expand the scope of communication, then by now they themselves have become an organic need of the modern subject. The theory of communication as a science highlights the functions of mass media based on their social nature. We are talking about the broad socio-psychological impact of mass media on large audiences. It is this scale of mass communication that differs from the previous methods of direct communication between people. At the same time, the process of implementing the specific functions of mass communications does not occur automatically (without taking into account how the audience perceives information - readers, listeners or viewers). In this regard, the theory of communication is of interest as a science and academic discipline, which attempts to comprehend the very psychological specifics of the process of perception and processing of social information by the subject.
Modern media and popular culture
The wide availability of all kinds of mass media contributed to the consolidation of the socio-psychological phenomenon of mass culture. Even in the works of J. Ortega y Gasset, long before the advent of the Internet and various kinds of gadgets, the ideas were presented that the general public now has access to those resources that until recently were a priority among the elite. Mass culture is focused on mass consumption. In this regard, it is not surprising that it often acquires the features of a cultural surrogate. The audience is offered a more simplified, primitive model of existence in society. First of all, this scheme concerns the system of human relationships. In addition, the cult of external success is actively preached, which is also a consequence of the depreciation of high culture.
Access to political events
Another phenomenon brought to life by the conditions of modern media is the so-called political spectacle. From now on, the political life of society also became an open object of public vision. The broad masses become witnesses of the political life of society, actively display their political sympathies and antipathies. Political figures, in turn, receive additional opportunities for their propaganda and political mobilization. Opportunities are also expanding for committing actions with hidden political effects, the possibility of holdinglarge-scale political games.
Media and power
Intercultural communication as a science shows that in democratic societies the mass media are to some extent distanced from state power (in any case, society actively strives for this). Politicians, on the contrary, strive to get closer to these means and, as they say, to get their hands on them. The authorities are always interested in managing the news. And the more a given state is far from democratic in nature, the more they succeed. In such a situation, the predominant dissemination is received, first of all, by that information and to the extent that is beneficial to the “tops”. Of course, it is not uncommon for certain facts from a series of undesirable information to get into the press. This happens, as a rule, without specifying the specific sources from which this information leaked. Therefore, secrecy becomes a separate significance and simply a necessity.
We observe the same thing in advertising (which will be discussed below): a large number of specialists are busy with the question of how to present material and spiritual consumer goods to the broad masses. Moreover, to do it in such a way that it does not look like consumer goods, but, on the contrary, invites consumers to feel their own “uniqueness”. As the science of the foundations and principles of communication defines, the main specificity of mass communication organs in this case is that they, as a rule, are not a source of transmitted information. Instead of thisthey act as its relay. However, the general public usually does not see the difference between them, identifying the repeater with the source.
Under the pressure of social control, the mass communication system plays the role of a means of asserting spiritual values and basic social norms - including in the process of socialization of the younger generation.
Main media categories
The significance of mass media is determined by the function of organizing and maintaining social information links between individuals in society and between various elements of the social structure. There are currently three main categories in mass communication:
- letter, - word, - audio image.
At the same time, the main difference between visual and verbal means of mass communication is the way the message is perceived, as well as the spatio-temporal characteristics of the message (environment, room, conditions of the situation, etc.), in which the process of information perception is carried out.
Communication in the group communication system
According to the research on which the science of the basics and principles of communication is based, the communicative system has a direct connection with the positions of individuals, depending on the system of information flows. Possession of information often directly depends on the status of the individual in the group. For example,high-status members of the group usually receive more messages of a favorable (friendly) nature, as opposed to messages sent to individuals with low status in the group.
The fundamentals and principles of communication in the functioning of the group are of great importance. Communication affects the effectiveness of group solutions to various problems within the framework of centralized and decentralized communication networks. It also actively promotes group leadership, influences its organizational development and the level of satisfaction/dissatisfaction of its members.
Advertising as an object of communication influence
Advertising is also a means of social communication, and we are talking about information paid for by firms and organizations aimed at promoting certain goods and services on the market. The means of disseminating commercial information in advertising have a fairly wide range: these are periodicals (magazines, newspapers), radio programs, and television, outdoor expositions (billboards, signs and shop windows), transport tablets, as well as various souvenirs (pens, mugs, T-shirts, towels, etc.).
Advertising creates a stable image of the company, its products and services, spreading information about the sale, to approve a promising commercial idea, etc. Again, as the science of the basics and principles of communication shows, advertising has received the highest peak of activity in the USA. The production of an abundance of products was caused by the introduction into the Americanmechanized process industry. As a result, manufacturers received an overabundance of goods and, consequently, the need for advertising stimulation of consumer activity. Currently, about tens of billions of dollars a year are spent on advertising in the United States.
At the same time, advertisers clearly track the feedback from one form or another of the advertising message. Accordingly, they try to create advertising messages in such a way that the presented product becomes not only desirable for potential consumers, but also exceptional. At the same time, it is extremely important to observe the “plausibility” of such information. The need to purchase a product can also be suggested in indirect ways (for example, at a sub-threshold level of perception of an individual).
