The Evolution of Communication Essay

Communication is a magnificent tool of success in many spheres of human activity. With proper use of communication tools, people can achieve business, professional, political, and personal success. Nowadays, people use various communication tools which include mass media means, social networking platforms and others in order to spread valuable and useless information. Mike Keefe an American comic and caricaturist has discovered the features of the communication evolution in his cartoon. With the help of only 140 characters the author has provided an indepth analysis of the historical changes which took part in the development of communication.

Mike Keefe has started his career of the cartoonist for the Denver Post in 1975. During his career, which lasts till now, he created a plethora of cartoons on various topics for various popular American mass media. Thus, Mike used to contribute to Businessweek, The Washington Post, The Denver Post, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times, and many other newspapers across the country. Keefe was awarded for his outstanding works with “the National Headliner’s Award, Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award, The Best of the West Journalism Contest, the National Press Foundation Berryman Award and the Fischetti Cartoon Competition. He served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 1997 and 98” (The Pulitzer Prizes, para. 2). In his work “The Evolution of Communication,” Mike Keefe has described the history of communication development from the Stone age till now. In 2009, his cartoon showed all the social problems which exist till now.

Keefe shows that a long time ago, when mass media was not so widely used, or it did not exist at all, communication was very complicated. For example, in the Stone age when people were in need of food and warmth, they did not think of spreading the information. Their communication was primitive. They used pictures drawn on the walls of caves to save the information actual for a primitive person. Back then, it was challenging and time-consuming to provide themselves with necessary sources for a living. Thus, a Stone Age person is showed dirty, undeveloped and tired.

However, with the development of technology people received new tools to do their work more efficiently with less time and efforts used. Keefe shows a person of those age as more developed and smarter. However, those people still did not have enough communication tools. It was rather difficult and time-consuming to spread information back then. Thus, writers could write their brilliant novels, poems, dramas without recognition of the audience. Inventors could create new outstanding devices and never make any money for that because the information was spread slowly. This made it impossible to achieve fame or financial benefits fast. Moreover, there was no such a thing as marketing, which is considered the navigator of modern world perception for different groups of people.

New means of communication development has discovered more benefits for people who wish to achieve fame, political or business success. Keefe shows a person with a book in his third picture. He points out his literacy with a smart and neat look. A viewer can see Keefe’s positive perception of people who like reading books and newspapers.

The pictures four and five display author’s negative perception of modern social networking platforms. He views those people week and underdeveloped. Special negative view is provided to the fifth person, who is searching for the social networking platform. With the development of computer technology and the Internet, people have become active users of social networks. In many cases, they have almost lost their connection with the real world’s environment. The ideas and information shared make critics claim that personal and social values have evolved or even degraded. It looks like getting more ‘likes’ online has become the primary value for many users. Nowadays, photos of restaurant food can be spread across the globe and get thousands of ‘likes’ from the followers in the social network. This fact questions the adequacy of modern society. However, this makes possible for many people across the globe become popular and famous in many ways.

The modern mass media works in various directions. Democratainment is one of them. This term was identified by John Hartley. He stated that “in commercial democracies, public participation in public affairs is conducted increasingly through highly mediated entertainment media and commercial rather than public institutions” (Hartley, 2002). Online entertainment programs’ availability and their amount have grown greatly due to the development of telecommunication technologies. Public preferences and opinion are significantly dependent on information spread via various social media platforms. None of the existing state powers can compete with it. It is assumed that social media uses information more efficiently that executive, legislative and judiciary powers. All this is due to modern communication’s unspoken rules.

Social network platforms play an integral role in the development of human ideas and perceptions. Nowadays, people are controlled by the various forms of media. Media gains control via information that flows into human minds. Even though this phenomenon has been widely discussed, Keefe’s approach is rather interesting, bright and outstanding.

References

Hartley, J. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies: The Key Concepts. Third Edition. 2002. Routledge. London. ISBN: 0-415-26888-5

The Pulitzer Prizes. Mike Keefe The Denver Post. Retrieved from  https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/mike-keefe

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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