International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

“Popular communication” can be characterized by the various ways in which the general public engages popular forms of communication including radio, →  Television , film, →  popular music , and print media such as magazines, newspapers, and popular literature, as well as new technologies such as the Internet, email, and mobile phones (→  Communication: Definitions and Concepts ). In addition to their general utility, these cultural objects inform and entertain the general public and are directed toward mass audience reception. The conspicuous consumption of popular forms of communication reveals a complex set of interactions with these modes of communication (→  Popular Communication ). Popular communication in the twenty-first century has transformed human →  Interaction by providing for seemingly limitless possibilities. In so doing, contemporary popular communication has subverted traditional forms of communication such as letters and the telephone. As more personalized and private communication is increasingly no longer the dominant form of communication, the reification of human communication has become pervasive. In the context of popular communication, “reification” can be described as the process by which popular communicative interactions between persons and the personal relationships indicative of those interactions are converted into objects that are thereby depersonalized ... log in or subscribe to read full text