Shannon and Weaver’s model of communications is a specific design to develop and improve the communications between a sender and a receiver. It was originally created in 1948, by and American Mathematician later came to be known as Shannon Weaver. It is considered to be the “Mother of all Models” for communication.
Example of Shannon and Weaver Communication Model
An Australia lecture extends a deadline for an Assignment to the Students in Singapore. The students then missed the deadline as the laptop on the students Time Zone is different from the lecturers Time Zone in Australia. the lecture did not take into account for the difference in Time Zone making it difficult for the lecturer as they have to make sure everyone has submitted and mark on time before the release of their promised results date.
- Sender: Australian Lecturer
- Encoder: Desktop/Laptop
- Channel: Email Server/Internet
- Noise: Confusion due to different time zones
- Decoder: Student’s Electronic devices/Laptop
- Receiver: Students
- Feedback: Students sending emails to the lecturer asking why they were penalized for late submission.
Advantages
- Noise helps in making communication an effective way by removing the noise or the problem cousin noise
- It a general communications model that is applicable to any process
- Communication is taken as quantifiable in Shannon Weaver model.
Disadvantages
- More towards interpersonal communications rather than group communication or mass communication
- Receiver is a passive past in the communication process as sender plays a primary role that sends the message
- Feedback is taken as a less important effect towards the sender but more towards the receiver
- Some take the model as a ‘misleading misrepresentation of the nature of human communication” as human is not mathematical in nature
In my opinion the 1954 Shannon and Weaver communication model is incomplete because as years passed on human adapt and evolve to showing more emotions and develop the ability to express themselves in a text. For example, teenagers in the 90’s or 80’s were already using the Smiley face or Peace signs amidst their message. People began to express themselves with emotion in their message and giving a better understanding of what the sender is trying to convey. It makes communication simple.
Improvement of the Shannon and Weaver Communication model
This model follows the basic sculpture of the original model from the Shannon and Weaver Communication model. But it includes more flexibility in the messages. The messages include human emotion, a point of view and freedom to express themselves. It will create a better understanding from the sender to the receiver and also receiver and to the senders as feedback.
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