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Analyse how the Communication Process applies to Facebook, a global conglomerate.

Over the past few years Facebooks use as a public space for organizations and

individuals to connect has largely remained unquestioned. Not only did this ban serve as a
testimony of the social-networking websites ubiquity and global reach, but it also brought
attention to the websites dominance and possible monopoly over the social-networking space,
something that no government had done before.
Founded in 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook has quickly evolved into the worlds
largest online social networking platform. Facebook currently has one billion users globally, out
of which approximately 167 million users are located in the United States (Social Bakers, as of
November 2012). Access to the platform is free as long as users have an internet or mobile
connection and declare themselves to be at least 13-years-old. Facebook allows users to connect
with others online and offers a platform where users can play games, chat with their friends,
share links and upload an unlimited number of photos.
Though Facebook was not the first social-networking platform, it quickly surpassed other
websites such as Friendster, LinkedIn and MySpace in popularity due to the ease with which its
users can share and access information online (Rusli, 2012). Over the years people have found
different uses for Facebook, ranging from political activism (Shirky, 2011) to romance (Ehrlich,
2012). And although the website has repeatedly been criticized for its privacy settings (Schwartz,
2012) with $3.7 billion dollars in revenue in 2011 and a billion users it eclipses its
competitors both in profits and popularity.
Communication Process on Facebook
The communication process: A Facebook live-video broadcast example
Models of communication refers to the conceptual model used to explain the
human communication process. The first major model for communication came in 1949
by Claude Elwood Shannon and Warren Weaver for Bell Laboratories. Following the basic
concept,

communication

is

the

process

of

sending

and

receiving messages or

transferring information from one part (sender) to another (receiver). Shannon (1948) and
Weaver (1949) discussed a general communication system based on mathematics, which,
according to Shapiro (2012), encompasses eight components:

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)

sender/source
encoding
message
channel
noise
decoding
receiver
feedback
In the following post, we will briefly discuss the state of the process of communication in

regard to mobile and social media based on the Shannon-Weaver model, as depicted in Figure 1
by Shannon (1948) and Figure 2 by Burcher (2012), and apply it to communication efforts in the
context of a football club.

Figure 1: Shannon (1948, p. 7) Schematic diagram of a general communication system

Figure 2: Burcher (2012, p. 18) The Shannon-Weaver model revisited


In this section I will depict the communication situation of a football club broadcasting a
live-video through the Facebook Live function and elaborate on how the eight components of the
Shannon-Weaver communication model, as discussed by Shapiro (2012) and Adler and Elmhorst

(2005), drive the communication process. I will use the fictitious football club FC Xample to
describe their fictitious UEFA Europa League press conference situation.
Message. In the context of a live-video broadcast on Facebook, the communication process starts
with the message, this being: FC Xample wants to broadcast the press conference before its
UEFA Europa League fixture through Facebook Live.
Sender/Transmitter (Source). Our sender, or source of the information provided in the
broadcast, is the transmitter, the person (or robot/software) that shares the information, or as
Shannon (1948) describes it, [the] transmitter [] operates on the message in some way to
produce a signal suitable for transmission over the channel. (p. 7, emphasis in original) in
our fictitious case it would be the manager, a player, or a representative staff member of FC
Xample.
Encoding. One part of the encoding process is undertaken by the person verbalising and
contextualising the information in the live-video stream. For this first part, the quality of the
encoded message is based upon several dimensions that encompass. The second part of the
encoding process is undertaken by the technical operator, who produces the message through
technological tools.
Channel. The channel in my example is Facebook Live, a specific application within the
Facebook social network that gives registered users the possibility to watch, comment, and share
the live-video stream of the fictitious press conference broadcasted by our fictitious football club,
FC Xample.
Noise. Adler and Elmhorst (2005, p. 9-10) note that there are three types of noises in the
communication process: (1) external noise (physical noise) include distractions from outside of
the sender or receiver; (2) physiological noise include distractions that happen within the sender
or receiver based on their physiological attributes, such as hearing or visual impairment;
(3) psychological noise refers to forces that affect the understanding of the receiver, such as
egotism, defensiveness, hostility, fear, etc.

Decoding. Senders can help with the decoding process on the receivers end by publishing
additional content, such as text comments in the comments section of the live-stream or followup posts on Facebook explaining the meaning of the message.
Receiver. Given the social attribute of Facebook Live and social media in general, senders need
to consider the magnitude of the opportunity of re-broadcasting and the potential for all rebroadcaster to attach their own thoughts, comments or reinterpretations at each stage. Hence, a
thorough encoding process and an elaborated support process to facilitate the decoding of the
original message with additional content might become a crucial component in the
communication process to lower noises and help preventing misunderstandings. This could be
achieved by applying crossmedia strategy programs as discussed by Schulz (2007, p. 24), which
include multiple use, recycling, complementarity, substantive proximity, and autonomy of
additional content for receivers.
Feedback. Feedback on social media can also happen outside the confines of the sender here
FC Xample. Viewers watching on Facebook Live might talk about the press conference on
another digital channel, i.e. Twitter. Positive or negative feedback can be given there without the
knowledge of the sender. In order for FC Xample to make sure that their message is delivered as
intended, the club should monitor further digital channels and join the conversation with
comments that

help

decoding

the

intended

message

as

discussed

above

in

the decoding and receiver sections.

Based on your analysis and understanding of relevant theories, develop a Marketing


Communication strategy for any one of Facebooks products. This must include a pricing
plan and be relevant to the current stage in the Product Life Cycle.
Within eight years of its founding, Facebook has evolved into a multi-billion dollar

corporation and the worlds largest social networking website. Social networking websites are:
web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a
bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3)
view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system (boyd and
Ellison, 2007).

Facebook was not the first social-networking website to be available to internet users, but it
quickly surpassed other social networking websites, such as Friendster, MySpace and LinkedIn,
and crossed a billion users in 2012. In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard
University, launched Facebooks website from his dorm room (Kirkpatrick, 2010). At the time,
Facebook registration was only open to users with a Harvard.edu email address, with the
additional requirement that they use their real name, making it the first social networking website
that validated its usersidentity.
Facebooks product : Instagram
Facebook is paying $1bn (629m) in cash and stock for the takeover. Instagram was only
launched in October 2010. Whatever you think of the price given the fact that Instagram had no
revenues, the reality is it was going to be worth whatever Mark Zuckerberg felt like paying for
it. Both Google and Facebook had approached Instagram several times over the past 18 months,
but the talks clearly didnt result in a deal. So Facebook was going to have to offer a huge
premium over the last valuation for Systrom and the board to take any deal seriously.
Apps like Instagram, which allow sharing to Facebook as well as other services, have the
potential to win over their own social network users who generate photo-sharing traffic (uploads,
discussions, and social gestures or "likes") exclusive of Facebook, which thrives on growing its
user engagement metrics and store of data about its users. But Instagram also needed Facebook.
While popular, the company had yet to announce a revenue strategy. The app has been free and
carries no advertising. But running a media service at scale and Instagram definitely has scale -can be an expensive proposition.
Instagram for Marketing Communication
The Instagram Communication Process
Instagram can be characterized as having its own communication process, similar to that
of the traditional communication and marketing process. Based on Lasswells traditional
communication model (1948), the general communication process of humans is described as
having a source that sends a message over a specific channel. This message can be distorted by

noise, potentially affecting the receiver of the message. The receiver then gives feedback to the
source. The Marketing theory is very similar. A company devises a product, which is sent over
specific distribution channels. Competition interferes with the buying behavior (reception) of
customers, and through sales, customer service and market research, a degree of feedback is
given to the company.
The nature of this communication process can not only be applied to general
marketing, but also to the specific communication channel Instagram. When a company has an
Instagram account, it is the source of a message for a customer or consumer. The message has yet
to be created; in the case of Instagram, it would be either an image or a video post. Ideally, this
post draws a connection to a product, the brand or the company. The message is then sent over
the Instagram channel and distributed to a number of the companys followers. It can follow a
simple distribution scheme, or a more specified distribution with the use of post-related hash
tags. If the latter is the case, the message could be distributed to a larger number of people. After
sending, or in this case posting, the message, it is disrupted by noise and competition.
Competition can be seen as other posts by either people or companies that interfere with the
companys original post. This could mean competing for certain popular hash tags, posts about
current events (e.g. Superbowl), and popular times of day. Noise is created with users already
giving feedback to the companys post. People can like and comment and depending on those
factors, the perception of the receiver is no longer fully objective. When the message is finally
received, the image may have received numerous comments and likes. The traditional
communication process characterizes this as noise. Finally, the post reaches the receiver, who
then gives feedback. Feedback on Instagram can be given in multiple ways. The post can be
liked, commented on, ignored, screenshot-ed and shared elsewhere, or shared on other social
media channels. One can follow the poster, one can un-follow the poster and one can flag the
content as inappropriate or spam. This feedback reaches the company (the original sender of the
message/post) in the form of an information stream, in which the individual feedback is
continuously displayed.

Branding on Instagram
Photosharingsocialnetworks,includingInstagram,areagreatwayforcompaniesto
marketthemselvesinalowcostandhighqualityenvironmentthatishighlytargetedwithin
consumersandcompetitivelyadvantageous(Safko,2012).Chan(2011)highlightscompanies
thatuseInstagramnotasasalespromotiontoolsbutasanopportunitytoshowthebrandandthe
companybehindthescenes.Socialmediathatarebasedonphotosharingarebecomingmore
effectiveasatoolforSearchEngineOptimizingandthepopularityforthemishighlyincreasing
(Chan,2011).Thereare65percentoftheworldstop100brandsthathaveInstagramaccounts
and57percentofthemareactiveandpostpicturesorvideosatleastonceaweek(Smith,2014).
TohelpbusinesseswiththeirInstagrammarketing,theInstagramteamhascreatedablog
calledInstagramforbusinessthatposthelpfuladvicesandbestpractisesofbrandsthatsucceed
withtheirInstagrammarketing.Theyarecurrentlyreleasingpostsfromtheirownmadebook
namedTheInstagramhandbookforbrands(Instagramforbusiness,2014).Thebookcontains
Instagramsbrandvaluesaswellasthetophashtagsandexamplesfromtheelevenbest
Instagrambrands.ThethingstheelevenmostsuccessfulbrandsonInstagramhaveincommon
is that theseaccountsbringtheiruniqueidentitiesandvaluestolife throughcaptivating
imageryandafocusontheirrespectivecommunities

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