Media Richness

Media Richness

1

Media Richness Alexis Bernard Department of Psychology, Norfolk State University PSY540-90 Dr. Scott Debb, Ed.D., LPC June 19, 2022

Media Richness

2

The ability to communicate – to receive, process, store and produce messages – is central to human interaction and participation (McLeod, 2018). The primary modes of communication privileged in many societies are speaking, listening, reading and writing, but can include other modes such as sign languages, online audio/video communication or non-verbal modes such as crying and touch (McLeod, 2018). Media use is a construct that cannot be based on physical media properties, but that should be regarded as a higher-order construct based on appropriation, which in turn is a process underlying both social and individual influences (Handke et al., 2018). Due to the pervasive nature of social media use, it is important to better understand how social media affects those that view it (Chauhan et al., 2021). The digital ecosystem seems to have a more amorphous structure than the legacy media ecosystem, because of the large number of participants and the use of hardware and telecommunications systems operated by others (Picard, 2015). There has not yet been a broad systematic review exploring the relationship between social media and wellbeing through a positive psychology (PP) lens (Gudka et al., 2021). With more people placing themselves in virtual environments and existing as avatars not only for entertainment, but also for education and health, it is important to understand the potential effects of digital embodiment(Ratan et al., 2019). Positive psychology may therefore be underutilized in informing the beneficial aspects of social media (Gudka et al., 2021). Social media is sufficiently widespread and integrated with our lives and livelihoods that its wellbeing impacts cannot be ignored (Gudka et al., 2021). Introspectively, it appears as if our society has become encapsulated by coordinating our lives with technology.

Due to the unique nature of social media, we further argue that social media will influence individuals’ perceptions of ethical situations differently than more traditional media

Media Richness

3

contexts such as online news articles (Chauhan et al., 2021). In reality, ethical opinions and information are presented in numerous ways on social media such as through news feeds, personal posts, links to online blogs or message boards, and others (Chauhan et al., 2021).

Emotional, psychological, and physical well-being factors were identified as conditions influencing the impacts of social media use, demonstrating the bidirectional nature of the relationships between social media usage and well-being (Gudka et al., 2021). Yet, the growing literature discussing social media’s positive wellbeing impacts has not typically been organized through a positive psychology lens, that is, taking a structured psychology-based approach to wellbeing and flourishing (Gudka et al., 2021).

Social media alone does not appear to be a good medium through which ethical scenarios and information can be processed and assessed (Chauhan et al., 2021). Current refinements within digital spaces have created substantial structural developments, particularly in social media. These advancements amplify our questionable society and how individuals portray varying observable actions. To compound this issue, there is little empirical or theoretical research exploring how the consumption of social media content, regardless of accuracy, affects ethical decision-making (Chauhan et al., 2021). Misuse, misrepresentation, and misinterpretation are just a few of the issues that can occur within the confinements of cyberspace.

An example for a rich medium would thus be FtF interaction, as it provides immediate feedback, enables the use not only of verbal but also of para- and nonverbal cues such as voice and body language, is highly personal, and uses natural language (Handke et al., 2018).

As a result, this theme of social interaction is likely to influence the ethical sensemaking process by affecting individuals’ interpretations of ethical problems (Chauhan et al., 2021). The nature

Media Richness

4

and effectiveness of media choice is likely to develop as a function of social influence, temporal dynamics, and the individuals using the medium (Handke et al., 2018).

Ensuring the worth and value of one’s own goals, reminding one’self of them, and taking steps to mitigate risk – including the risk to others – can likely foster courage in these difficult times(Waters et al., 2021). MRT argues that task performance depends on the fit between the information needs of the task at hand and the mediums information richness (later just referred to as media richness) (Handke et al., 2018). However, virtual communication has also been blamed for performance breakdowns by causing problems such as coordination difficulties, misunderstandings, and psychological distance (Handke et al., 2018). Body movements and mannerisms are examples of nonverbal communication that offer meaningful exchanges of displayable information that may be difficult to share while socializing online.

These occurrences and configurations can affect the proficiency, decision-making, and wellbeing of an individual.

Overall, outcomes vary significantly, and this is likely to be because people are engaging with social media in different ways and for different reasons (Gudka et al., 2021).

Additionally, the findings suggest that building social capital and social support via social media requires persistence, intentionality, and an understanding of one’s own social skills and interaction styles (Gudka et al., 2021). By exchanging information with other individuals we can effectively define and characterize social capital as an arrangement of relationships that influence our decision-making and mannerisms. Everyone should uphold others’ right to communicate as they interact with people in daily life in order to enhance equality, justice and human dignity (McLeod, 2018). Digital and social media functionalities are thus humanising communication by

Media Richness displacing some of the artificiality and alienation inherent in mass communication (Picard, 2015). By building self-regulation and autonomy resources, mindfulness may offer a promising, yet underrepresented research avenue in connecting social media, wellbeing and positive psychology (Gudka et al., 2021). This has the benefit of shifting the focus off social media, to key wellbeing dimensions, and shows how positive psychology, with its focus on improving overall wellbeing and flourishing, can both directly and indirectly support flourishing through social media (Gudka et al., 2021). Thus, the problem is not the concept of physical media properties—which have certain capacities for transmitting and processing information—but rather its equation to perceived richness as well as the static assumption of certain tasktechnology fits ignoring appropriation and adaptation (Handke et al., 2018).

With regard to improving the use of problem recognition and sensemaking strategies, it appears that multiple types of perspectives are useful when interpreting ethical issues online, even when they share similar content (Chauhan et al., 2021). Since positive psychology is primarily concerned with enhancing wellbeing and flourishing, this offers a clear channel through which positive psychology can support flourishing through social media (Gudka et al., 2021). Future research would benefit from analyzing the influence that individuals’ values and interests may have on their ethical sensemaking processes (Chauhan et al., 2021). Specifically, building social capital and social support are key ways that social media can support flourishing (Gudka et al., 2021). As such, the source credibility of information and the level of education of the media user may very well affect their perceptions of the content (Chauhan et al., 2021). A practical implication of this might be to use social media intentionally for connection, but experiment with levels of usage and periods of abstinence to proactively regulate the tension

5

Media Richness

6

between connection and autonomy (Gudka et al., 2021). Future protocols and guidelines should be structured around the well-being of individuals, and the standardization of existing systems in addition to the meaningful and appropriate placement of content in digital spaces, particularly regarding social media.

Media Richness

7 References

Aiken, M. (2017). Cyber effect. (p. 216). John Murray Publishers Lt. Chauhan, R. S., Connelly, S., Howe, D. C., Soderberg, A. T., & Crisostomo, M. (2021). The danger of “fake news”: how using social media for information dissemination can inhibit the ethical decision making process. Ethics & Behavior, 1–20. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10508422.2021.1890598 Gudka, M., Gardiner, K. L. K., & Lomas, T. (2021). Towards a framework for flourishing through social media: a systematic review of 118 research studies. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1991447 Handke, L., Schulte, E.-M., Schneider, K., & Kauffeld, S. (2018). The medium isn’t the message: Introducing a measure of adaptive virtual communication. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2018.1514953 McLeod, S. (2018). Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/17549507.2018.1428687 Picard, R. G. (2015). The humanisation of media? Social media and the reformation of communication. Communication Research and Practice, 1(1), 32–41. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/22041451.2015.1042421 Ratan, R., Beyea, D., Li, B. J., & Graciano, L. (2019). Avatar characteristics induce users’ behavioral conformity with small-to-medium effect sizes: a meta-analysis of the proteus effect. Media Psychology, 23(5), 651–675. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/15213269.2019.1623698

Media Richness Waters, L., Algoe, S. B., Dutton, J., Emmons, R., Fredrickson, B. L., Heaphy, E., Moskowitz, J. T., Neff, K., Niemiec, R., Pury, C., & Steger, M. (2021). Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 17(3), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2021.1871945

8