This week’s topic of metacommunication and media ecology really challenged me to reflect on my own communicative processes and look for specific patterns of relation within them. Bateson’s theory of metacommunication suggests that there is a higher level of context to the supposed linear state of communication. Specifically, he refers to ‘redundancy’ as a pattern and the difference in communication that arises from different mediums. This prompted me to think about how differently I communicate to people through email versus text messages or face to face conversation.
The medium carries with it specific pre-conditioned connotations that we inadvertently adhere to. This is as Neil Postman says, ‘an environment is a complex message system which imposes on human beings certain ways of thinking, feeling and behaving’.
The language and format of an email is fundamentally different to the informal approach taken through text messages. Bateson says that every communication involves a rich pattern of a whole bunch of events and this rich pattern, which tells us about the full nature of the communication taking place is the ‘real’ communication. He suggests that there is more ‘redundancy’ in face to face communication than email, which is true, but emoticons in text messages help to counteract this.
This takes us to the second element of this week’s theories and that is media ecology. I guess what we mean by media ecologies is instead of seeing media as something that exists on its own, it should be seen as an environment that thrives on constant interaction. Traditionally we would see the media as an isolated element, singled out as its own entity. But media ecologies focuses on the interaction and interplay of a whole bunch of different elements, including human and non-human interactions.
From the readings, Milberry describes media ecology as ‘a theory about the complex interplay between humans, technology, media and the environment with the aim of increasing awareness of mutual effects’. Its about the connections that change everything that connect.
References
Bateson, Gregory (2000) ‘A Theory of Play and Fantasy’, Steps to an Ecology of Mind Chicago: Chicago University Press: 177-183 (sections 1-11).
Media Ecology Association ‘What is Media Ecology’ <http://www.media-ecology.org/media_ecology/>
Milberry, Kate (n.d.) ‘Media Ecology’, Oxford Bibliographies, <http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0054.xml#>
ARTS3091 - advancedmediaissuess 