Technology has digitally disrupted today’s society.
As technology communication channels increase and social norms change throughout time, the way people use each communication channel varies. Structural components of these mediums people use influence how others communicate using through different platforms.
Theory of niche is based on the usage and gratification outcome one has while using a specific media. Depending on the platform, an individual’s message may be more effective on one medium than another. There are gratifications sought out for through each media as well as media’s sharing gratification with each other. It is common for communication channels to compete with one another, especially if they offer similar platforms.
Conceptualizing Theory of Niche
For example, you are sending a text message to your mother to pick you up after work and an email to a colleague in regards to notes for tomorrow’s meeting. The email and text message have the same components in regards to a sender and a receiver. Both media’s fulfills the niche of sending a diret message to someone in a given time frame.
Although they do both serve similar purposes, social norms have people sending emails in a professional setting and text message on a day to day casual basis. The content and potentially grammar of an email in a professional atmosphere is vastly different in comparison to text message
Communication Channels and their Audience
Depending who the message is targeted to the sender must be cognizant. Communication channels allow people to send messages to the following: 
- 1 to 1 for example emails and texts where senders are targeting a specific person. raditional forms also include television and radio
hows , internet such as mass emails from retailers in regards to promotions, lectures or vlogs - Many to many can be asynchronous such a as social network sites or synchronous such as a conference over video (24)
Many to many is a new type of communication called mass personal communication which describes the intersection between interpersonal communication and mass media (25).
Conceptualizing Mass Personal Communication:
- 1 to many channels with the intended purpose of social use for example you are at the Raptors game in the last quarter when all of a sudden on the big screen you see a someone purposing to their significant other
- 1 to 1 channels to attempt to diffuse messages to larger groups for example beginning of summer and your friends in whatsapp group chat are debating in regards to which cottage to book for Canada Day long weekend
- Most often communication occurs in the many to many context in which people interact simultaneously on numerous different social platforms for example Snapchatting your friend alongside having a conversation through iMessage
Understanding Your Audience
Users can choose to send and receive messages privately or publicly. Mediated messages can stay long after the conversation is over for others to see, review and search. Therefore individuals must be aware of the content they are sharing in order to prevent long term detrimental reporcussions
Messages can be viewed and interpreted differently depending on the reader. In order to have your recipients accept messages in the way you intended it to sound, is being able to know who exactly your receiver is and how to send a message to their understanding.
Challenge of sending messages is miscommunication therefore senders must think to a high degree in regards to who the audience is as a person. Miscommunication can be overcome by being aware of the audience, choosing channels wisely in regards to who will view the message and what message you are trying to portray.
Skills Related to CMC Production
- Attentiveness – ensuring you are making note as to who the audience is and therefore tailoring a message to that unique individual. This skill allows for an effective message because sender is targeting their audience. For example sending a LinkedIn message to an industry professional about artificial intelligence because their profession is a data scientist as oppose to sending a general business article.
- Interaction Management – People with high level of interaction management are able to stay on topic and ask questions that relate to current conversation on social platform as oppose to going off topic. Depending on the channels, timing in regards to posting and response plays a significant role
– Synchronous channels communicators may expect faster response time. In some cases receiver has the ability to know how long it took the sender to create the message and if the message is currently being created for example on iMessage
– Asynchronous channels senders have to adjust to adjust to norms of a specific medium. For example wanting to respond to an email but not too promptly due to the fact that sender may think you are not busy
– Another component is frequency of messages. For example over text it could come across as too much if someone sends multiple message where as on other platforms such as LinkedIn it is the norm to post a lot - Expressiveness – Refers to what degree individuals articulate and convey their messages online communications. Spitzberg states that expressiveness can be measured by humour and emoticons (27). In person messages are told by both verbal and non verbal cues. Online communication non verbal are the spelling used and the emojis
. Other non verbal cues online include online paralinguistic for example vocal spelling hey girl vs heyyy girl , lexical surrgates which means writing in tone “ummm”, emojis and manipulating grammar “…”
- Composure – Refers to how assertive and confident a communicator comes across when sending messages online.Credibility is associated when recuevers read a confident cimmunicators messages. Paralinguistic cues can cause communicator to lose creditability. For example bad grammar, unless that is what the intended audience is expecting such as texting your friends in which slang serves as idioms. Overall misspelling has to be strategic not random and in order to be competent communicator, you must know your audience and cater message to them.
Challenges in Communication
CMC Apprehension which is an individual’s fear or anxiety associated with online and in person communication.Those who experience this tend to expect a negative outcome and therefore try to avoid any events that require them to be social. High communication apprehension may be more likely to choose a mediated channel when they need to give negative or critical feedback (29). Those who see them selves with a high apprehension do not consider themselves as effective communicators.
Written By: Bryanna Edwards
Communication Competence and Identities in Networked Locations 
It is surprising how there are many different components that is put into communication. These components are often overlooked in our day to day lives and we are not aware of these components. However, everyone should be taught about communication and the elements that affect communication because by understanding the components it allows better communication between parties involved and it can reduce the chances of miscommunication.
Comment by Martin Wai
LikeLike
I think the theory of niche is especially true and occurs constantly in my daily life – literally any time I communicate something to an audience, regardless of platform. I notice a variation of communication depending on the person I’m speaking with, and also the platform on which the message needs to be delivered. I even notice a difference in platforms of the same category – social media.
If I’m speaking with my mom over text, it’s usually a very casual and informal conversation. I’d use emojis, informal language, and even abbreviations.
If I’m speaking to a colleague at work – this varies. On Skype for Business, it’s usually a bit more informal than if I were to deliver a message over email – which is usually pretty formal.
If I’m communicating on social media, the copy I use for each platform varies:
– If it’s my personal Twitter account which is on private, I’m usually pretty casual but am still cautious about what I post.
– If it’s my professional Twitter, it’s a bit more formal because of the audience I’m intending to reach when I create content to be published.
– If I’m posting on Facebook, the content I post is more family-friendly – sharing videos of cooking recipes, noting my interest in upcoming events, and even posting pictures of previous events I attended. Of course, everything is appropriate.
In all of these situations except for text and email, they’re being delivered to mass audiences. This means it would be the many to many communication channel. This would not apply to text or email, as those communication channels would be 1 to 1.
Regardless, if you’re communicating anything to anyone, always be aware of the platform being used and the social norms of how messages should be delivered on that particular channel. Be extremely aware of in-person communication, especially when considering the audience receiving that message.
– comment by Sara Kandil
LikeLike
It’s entertaining to think that expressions over text messages or even online chats can make all the difference of how people pick up your communication cues. Using nonverbal cues and emojis, especially, during online interaction can either make or break a conversation. I believe that it is difficult to do one without the other to communicate because some emojis are now the capsule of emotions within non-verbal communication.
Putting online paralinguistic with emojis heightens the experience of texting I find. When I’m texting someone and they add extra e’s or y’s to their words or elongate their “lol” with an emoji to symbolize their emotion it makes me feel as if they are enjoying our conversation. Even without the emoji’s, I feel better when people are more playful with their words than those who are plain, straightforward non-verbal communicators.
-Natasha Daley
LikeLike