The 8 elements of communication: characteristics and examples

A summary of the elements of communication: sender, receiver, channel, etc.

The elements of communicationThe elements of communication, such as message, sender, receiver and context, are concepts that help us to understand the complexity of the communicative processes involved in social interactions.

In this article we will see in detail what are the elements of communication that come into play where there are subjects exchanging information, and how variations in each of them can make the interpretation of the information received different.

What are the elements of communication?

By communication we understand the process by which an exchange of information between two subjects takes place. an exchange of information between two subjects. There is a debate about what should be the nature of these subjects involved in the communicative activity: whether they can only be human beings and some animals with high capacities for abstract thought, or they can also be other living beings with less complex nervous systems, and even machines such as computers.

To what extent does a smartphone interpret the digital signals it receives from an antenna? Do bacteria communicate by capturing and emitting chemical elements?

In any case, there is something that is independent of the type of subjects sharing information with each other: the elements of communication. These are concepts that help us to understand the phenomena that explain communicative activities, and each of them represents a piece in the process by which information travels from one data interpretation system to another that is located in a different place from the one occupied by the first.

Although communication does not necessarily involve a physical body that moves from one place to another, in practice communication is movement and dynamism, and that is why it cannot be explained in the same way as it could be explained with a static element. The elements of communication are the pieces that articulate with each other to generate different meanings in real time.. Let's see what they are.

1. Sender

The sender is the subject that triggers the communicative process by presenting information that can be interpreted by other subjects.. In turn, the sender can emit coded information in a symbolic way, or through non-verbal language, which expresses sensations, attitudes and moods, and which is more spontaneous than the previous one.

On the other hand, it is often very relative to establish who the sender is, because it is not always easy to know for sure which subject initiated the communication. For example, if someone meets his neighbor in the street and greets him with a "hello", this could in turn be a reaction to the expression on the neighbor's face, and in this case it would be the person who has not spoken who would have taken the role of sender in the first place.

It is precisely for this reason that the sender is assumed to be a relative sender, establishing as a frame of reference a single cycle of sending information. At one point, the sender becomes the receiver, and vice versa.

2. Receiver

The receiver is the subject who, voluntarily or involuntarily, receives the information emitted by the emitter and interprets it, either by using a system of symbols by the sender and interprets it, either using a system of symbols that establishes equivalences between signifiers and meanings, or without a system of symbols, obeying the sensations produced by what arrives through the senses.

As we have seen, there is an unresolved debate about whether a machine can be a receiver, but in practice, signal reception systems are treated as real receivers, since not doing so would make it very difficult to understand how these devices work.

3. Message

The message is that which is used to transmit the information, i.e., the literal existence of what is being transmitted, the literal existence of what is being said by the sender and what is being received by the receiver.. Therefore, message is not equivalent to meaning, but it is the phenomenon to be deciphered in order to obtain, from its interpretation, a meaning.

For example, a message can be "I wish you luck", while the meaning of this word of letters (if read) or of phonemes (if heard) depends on other aspects: in some cases it is a token of appreciation, while in others it is an indirect mockery used by means of sarcasm, if it is formulated implying that the receiver lacks the necessary capabilities to do something.

In practice, the message is inseparable from the rest of the elements of communication, because we can never get to know it and analyze it without a receiver, a sender, a channel, etc.

4. Noise

Noise is literally any phenomenon that interferes with the communicative process and modifies the message in any of its aspects.. For example, the coverage cuts that we sometimes experience when talking on a cell phone, or a burst of noise that distorts some phonemes.

Thus, noise is one of the most diverse elements of communication, because there are many different ways in which a message can be altered: both physical (electronic failures in signal reception, wall material that keeps the sender and receiver apart) and symbolic (typing errors, software word recognition errors, etc.).

The existence of noise is what has led many people to seek communication channels capable of controlling very well the variables that come into play in the transmission of information. The message exchange programs used by chat systems, for example, pay a lot of attention to this.

On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that noise does not always have to come from phenomena outside the elements of communication; sometimes it comes from within.Sometimes, it comes from within. For example, if the receiver has a brain lesion, this can generate noise by making it difficult to analyze what the sender says, generating alterations such as Wernicke's aphasia.

5. Code

The code is the structured set of rules and signs that make it possible to express and deliver complex messages.. Therefore, it is associated with the ability to use language, or at least a type of language somewhat less developed than that of adult human beings.

There are different code systems, and they can be applied in speech or writing. On the other hand, the existence of the code implies that in order to communicate, the sender must carry out a coding process if he wants to emit a message of his authorship, and the receiver has to decode in order to interpret and understand it. For communication to take place, sender and receiver must use the same code.

6. Channel

The channel is the medium through which the message travels, passing from one place to another.. In spoken language, the channel is usually the sound waves that travel through the air, while on the Internet, the channel can be a chat or a binary system of digital signal transmission, depending on the level at which we place our unit of analysis of what is happening.

In practice, among the most frequent channels that are part of the daily life of this element of communication are air, paper, e-mail, telephone systems, and light waves emitted by screens. Occasionally, two or more channels may be used at the same time.

7. Context

The context is the spatio-temporal environment in which communication takes place. It should not be forgotten that where and when greatly influence both the delivery of the message and its reception and interpretation.. Around the subjects who communicate, there is always a more general environment that conditions the whole process.

For example, it is not the same to talk to someone from one's own team as it is to talk to someone from the rival team, nor is it the same to say something considered provocative in the 18th century as it is to say it in a 21st century Western country. Our environment conditions not only how we say things, but even the content of what we intend to communicate.

8. Feedback

Feedback, or feedback, is the response given by the receiver after having interpreted the message sent by the sender.. Therefore, it can also be considered another element of communication: the message given by the sender, since it can be seen as that which is said to initiate another communicative process.

A dynamic information exchange process

As we have seen, communication is defined as a dynamic process, which cannot be fully grasped either from a static scheme or from a linear descriptive model in which one element of communication produces the next one, and this one produces another one, etc. When we communicate, everything emerges at once, and we cannot separate each of these pieces and analyze them in isolation, separate from the rest.separate from the rest.

Therefore, this outline of the elements of communication only serves as a guide, as a map to help us understand what is going on and through which media one or another piece of information might be being shared. In the end, what really matters is the interpretation and conception of messages, and these are always produced linked to a particular time and place.

Bibliographical references:

• Berlok, K.D. (2008). El proceso de la comunicación (introduction to theory and practice). Buenos Aires: El Ateneo.
• Griffin, E.A. (1997). A first look at communication theory. 3rd edition, New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Trenholm, S.; Jensen, A. (2013). Interpersonal Communication Seventh Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.