Factors to Consider When Choosing Media
When choosing a medium for your message, select the medium that balances your needs and your audience’s needs (see Figure 3.3). Just as critical, however, is considering howyour message is affected by important factors such as the following:
Media richness.
Richness is a medium’s ability to (1) convey a message through more than one informational cue (visual, verbal, vocal), (2) facilitate feedback, and (3) establish personal focus. The richest medium is face-to-face communication; it’s personal, it provides immediate feedback (verbal and nonverbal), and it conveys the emotion behind a message. Multimedia presentations and multimedia webpages are also quite rich. At the other extreme are the leanest media—those that communicate in the simplest ways, provide no opportunity for audience feedback, and aren’t personalized, such as memos, posters, and podcasts. Generally speaking, use the richest media to send more complex messages and to help communicate emotion. Use leaner media to send simple, routine messages.
Message formality.
Your media choice governs the style and tone of your message. For instance, IM and e-mail can be considered inappropriate for formal messages.
Media limitations.
Every medium has limitations. For example, although face-to-face communication is a rich medium, it’s one of the most restrictive because you and your audience must be in the same place at the same time. Similarly, instant messaging is perfect for communicating short, simple messages, but it is ineffective for sending complex ones.
Sender intentions.
Your choice of medium also influences audience perceptions of your intentions. For instance, to emphasize formality, use a more formal medium, such as a memo or a letter. Or, to let people know that you welcome feedback, meet face-to-face, make a phone call, or use IM.
Audience preferences.
Make sure to consider which media your audience expects or prefers.
For example, the United States, Canada, and Germany emphasize written messages, whereas Japan emphasizes oral messages—perhaps because its high-context culture carries so much of the message in nonverbal cues and “between the lines” interpretation.
Urgency and cost.
Various media have different costs and time requirements, so you often need to balance urgency and expense. Newer media options such as blogs and podcasting make it easier to deliver messages quickly at low cost.
Once you select the best medium for your purpose, situation, and audience, you are ready to start thinking about the organization of your message
• Use Written Media When
 You don't need or want immediate feedback
 You don't want or need immediate interaction with the audience
 Your message is complex
 You need a permanent, verifiable record
 Your audience is large and geographically dispersed
 You need to ensure that the message cannot be altered after you send it
 Your message has limited emotional content
 The situation calls for more formality
• Use Oral Media When
 You want immediate feedback from the audience
 Your message is straightforward and easy to accept
 You don't need a permanent record
 You can gather your audience conveniently and economically
 You want to encourage interaction to solve a problem or reach a group decision
 You want to read the audience’s body language or hear the tone of their response
 Your message has an emotional content
• Use Electronic Media When
 You need to deliver a message quickly
 You’re physically separated from your audience
 You want to give the audience an opportunity to edit the message (such as editing a word processing document)
 Your message can benefit from multiple media, such as audio and video
 You want to take advantage of electronic media

1. Some authorities say that shortcuts in text messaging and instant messaging will lead to users’ inability to spell properly in more formal contexts. Do you agree? (LO5)

There are credible arguments for both sides of this issue. One argument is that text and IM-speak are causing a breakdown of the English language. The other argument is that they are providing opportunities for students to gain more writing experience and are exciting examples of the evolution of language. Obviously, both sides have merit.
What factors might determine whether or not instant messaging would be an appropriate medium to use in a given situation? (LO5)

Your students might cite its appropriateness to the organization’s culture, the availability of the technology, the likelihood of the intended IM-ing partners being online when you are, the formality of the situation.