Communicatoin

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Bachelor's November 2001

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The word communication comes from the Latin word communis, meaning common. According to, as stated in lecture 2, communication is said to be a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behaviour and also the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver (). The rapid transmission of information over long distances and ready access to information has become conspicuous and important features of human society. One thing that is certain is that communication requires at least 3 elements. The first being the source, the second the message and the third the destination. The source may be an individual or a communication organization and in this case, I will use the example of ICQ (I Seek You). The message may be in a form of airwaves, sound, e-mail and or through chat rooms. The destination may be an individual listening, watching or reading.

I am going to use as an example, the widely used Internet chat program ICQ. With the simple click of the mouse, I am able to be in contact with people all over the world. But when talking to someone from Italy for instance, how do I know that my message "˜ Hello how are you doing "˜ is being received as that. How do I know if the receiver even understands what is meant by "˜ Hello how are you doing.' In the case of ICQ, the sender does not always know. I am not able to see facial expressions or read body language so I must assume they do. I can assume that the receiver does not understand when he or she does not respond, or in some cases, the message may not even have been received. If this is the case, how did this happen? Where was the message lost or the connection broken? Internet use such as this has become so popular, due to its benefits. An advantage of ICQ is that it allows users, such as myself, to create their own message circle by exchanging their user number with their friends and even total strangers who just want to chat. Messages are instant and private. Another advantage is that ICQ automatically tells you when anyone on your Contact List is online and whether he or she is available to chat. Because of ICQ, I am able to communicate with people of every race, language, and age for whatever reason. I am easily accessible to other student's in my program and can easily page them if they are online to ask a question. For most of us, ICQ has become an everyday tool for people everywhere. For my self, ICQ is widely used, for such things as chatting to finishing up homework questions. I mean why not use ICQ; its easy to use technology makes it great for everyone.

Besides the obvious advantage of chatting on ICQ, it also has many other forms of communication. By programming a phone number, I am able to call a friends cell phone or house line and carry on a conversation as if I were actually on the phone. I am also able to send e-mail with a simple click, as opposed to loading up hotmail and entering it that way. Via ICQ I bypass virtually all of that and am able to send e-mail in under a minute. It is evidently clear that ICQ has its advantages, and is an excellent way to communicate with a large amount of people at one time. From this advantage, I am able to save time, as opposed to calling each and every person I need to talk to. I am able to communicate through ICQ, via chat, e-mail, and phone.