The Media Richness Theory And The Daft And Lengel

Communication has been essential for survival for a vast amount of years. This can be seen from important parts of our history, from cave man paintings to written documents that establish countries and governments. Written forms of communication has developed our world. Written communication & verbal communication together are the reason that we have structure in everyday life. We when drive every day to work or school, we listen to lights and road signs to provide a safe route to our destination. Also, on those same roads, they were constructed by a group of people whom communicated and created a blueprint. The discussion of location and economic impact these high roads have, were discussed and addressed. Communication is essential for the …show more content…
In the Jaesub Lee’s PowerPoint Lecture, he states that Daft and Lengel assumed “that communication media transmit different amounts of richness or social presence because of their distinct capabilities using of utilizing multiple cues, personal message tailoring, speedy feedback opportunities, language variety and emotional response.” In the Media Richness Theory, Daft and Lengel emphasized the type of media channel one chooses will impact the delivery of the message. With the advancement of technology, the choice of media channels has increased. Media channels have become a system in which a message in communicated to one from another. As Lee’s PowerPoints indicate that there are various types of media channels such as “face-to-face, video conferencing, telephone, internet/email, and written documents.” The Media Richness Theory gives the attributes of richness of social presence to each of these media channels. The social presence factor in this theory is the quality of the receiver and sender’s communication through their chosen media channel. The theory determines the value of richness in social presence by the focusing on the communication media capability of delivering the message that the sender’s intended through the various cues, personal message fitting, feedback prospects, language selection and emotional response. The higher amounts of these qualities a media channel produces, the richer the media channel is. Daft & Lengel contended that the effectiveness of one’s message can be strengthen if these five attributes are at the desired levels. It is important to look at the interaction between the receiver and senders, as the message that each of them share conveys a response and thus both of them share roles. Message is seen here as the symbolic transfer of meaning, and it is