Masspersonal communication: A model bridging the mass-interpersonal divide

Abstract

Theoretical discussions about the false dichotomy between interpersonal and mass communication scholarship continue while the emergence of powerful and flexible digital communication tools have made the old distinctions more permeable than ever. Individuals are using communication technologies in ways that expand the intersection of interpersonal communication and mass communication, calling for new frameworks. We introduce masspersonal communication as a concept at the intersections of mass and interpersonal communication, with examples from older and newer communication technologies and practices. The masspersonal communication model is introduced incorporating two dimensions—perceived message accessibility and message personalization—that link mass communication and interpersonal communication and redefine each independent of channel.

Is Anybody out There?: Understanding Masspersonal Communication through Expectations for Response across Social Media Platforms

“…Furthermore, variations in imagined responsive audience can provide a way to differentiate between messages that are both public and personal, in line with the communication‐centered approach outlined by O'Sullivan & Carr (). If a sender is expecting response but is uncertain or indifferent to who will respond, they are engaging in more mass than masspersonal communication because there is no presupposition about the party that will join the interaction.…”

“…Traditionally interpersonal media, such as e‐mail, can reach large groups of people simultaneously, while traditionally mass media, such as newspapers, offer forums for readers to respond. Consequently, scholars have characterized the mass‐interpersonal divide as a “false dichotomy” (Cathcart & Gumpert, ; Reardon & Rogers, ) and made efforts to synthesize the fields of mass and interpersonal communication (Caplan, ; Hawkins, Wiemann, & Pingree, ; O'Sullivan, ; ).…”

“…The popularity of SNS has led to a resurgence in the calls for an integrated framework that recognizes the convergence of personalized communication within large and heterogeneous networks in social media (O'Sullivan & Carr, ; Walther et al, ). Aptly named, “masspersonal communication” (O'Sullivan, ) has become a common way to describe and even define social media platforms (Carr & Hayes, ). However, equating masspersonal communication with social media fails to account for the diverse ways people communicate across SNS (Zhao, Lampe & Ellison, ).…”

“…In an effort to address this problem, the masspersonal communication model (MPCM; O'Sullivan & Carr, ) proposes a communication, rather than medium‐centered, approach to understanding communication along the dimensions of anticipated audience size from the sender's perspective and perceived message personalization from the receiver's perspective. Together, these dimensions create a masspersonal space, which encompasses “public‐yet‐personalized communication” via channels that enable broader access to interpersonal communication (e.g., Facebook, radio call‐in) (O'Sullivan & Carr, , p. 12). Although a shift from a platform‐centered to a communication‐centered approach is a move in the right direction, we argue that to be truly communication‐centered, the model has to link the sender and receiver, instead of considering their experiences separately or focusing on static message characteristics.…”

Technological Determinism in Patterns of Communication and Social Behavior Change in Indonesian Society

“…Likewise, O'Sullivan (2005), divides a type of communication-based on media channel is not relevant. The presence of the masspersonal communication makes communications that are interactional increasingly significant.…”