Facebook: Social Networking - Term Paper Example

This interaction can be explained in the light of Schramm’s Model of Communication. According to the model, (as cited in Beck, Bennett and Wall, 2004), there are six elements of communication. They are source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, and receiver. In addition, to them, there is feedback that comes back from the receiver to the sender that gives the sender a chance to assess how effectively he is performing. In addition, according to Schramm’s model, field of experience has a role in encoding and decoding the message.

According to Schramm, a message can become complicated by different meanings learned by different people. In addition, the process of interpreting the message is influenced by various factors ranging from attitudes, age, and distractions (pp. 38-40). To illustrate, the picture of an intimate French kiss uploaded by an American youth may be interpreted in totally different ways by two people who visit the profile from two different parts of the world. A friend from the same nation may ‘like’ the picture and is likely to post a good ‘comment’ and ‘share’ the picture.

On the other hand, a person who sees the photo from an orthodox Arabic nation may dislike the photo and is more likely to post a negative ‘comment’ on the photo that it represents social degradation. Thus, it becomes evident that there is an intended meaning of the photo that the sender assumed according to his field of experience. However, the way the receivers decode the message varies according to their field of experience. In both the cases, the sender gets a chance to know how well he is performing and how effectively the receivers decoded his message through ‘likes’, ‘comments’ and ‘sharing’.

The same interaction can be explained in the light of Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication too. As Bhatia (2009) points out, there are four elements in the model; source, message, channel, and receiver. Source stands for the person who uploads the photo or video, and the efficiency of the source is dependent on various factors ranging from communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social system and culture (pp. 134-135). Evidently, the photo of the French kiss was the combination of all these factors and the channel was the ‘add photo’ interaction that enables seeing sensation.

The last element is the receiver. Evidently, the way the receiver interprets the meaning of the photo depends on various factors ranging from the receiver’s communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social system, and culture. Thus, different people are likely to interpret the photo in different ways. Admittedly, Schramm’s model of communication better explains the interaction described here because Berlo’s model does not mention the possibility of feedback. Evidently, the ‘add photo and video’ interaction allows effective feedback through ‘like’, ‘comment’ and ‘share’ options.

The analyzed communication is likely to result in a reinforcement of existing values and attitudes, though, depending on the type, form, direction, intentionality, and role of content, the impact can vary. For example, in this case of uploading a photo of French kiss, it will be viewed as something good by those who belong to the same culture, same values, and same age group. On the other hand, the ones who belong to a culture that is against this are likely to view this as an unacceptable practice.

Thus, it only reinforces the