communicatiemedium

Communicatiemedium, or communication medium, refers to the channel or means by which information is transmitted from a sender to a receiver. It includes physical carriers such as air, cables, and fiber, as well as symbolic forms such as spoken language, written text, images, and digital data. The term is used in communication theory to analyze how a message travels, how it is encoded and decoded, and how the channel affects its reception.

Common categories range from face-to-face conversation and telephone to radio, television, newspapers, and the internet. Some mediums enable mass communication, while others support interpersonal exchange. Digital and electronic mediums have expanded reach, speed, and interactivity, but may also introduce biases, security concerns, or distractions.

Mediums differ in properties such as richness, immediacy, permanence, privacy, and audience reach. Richness refers to the ability to convey complex cues, including tone and nonverbal signals; high-richness media include in-person meetings and video calls, while low-richness media include brief text messages. The medium also shapes the feedback loop, potential noise, and the likelihood of misinterpretation.

Choosing a medium depends on message complexity, required speed of feedback, confidentiality, audience size, accessibility, and cultural factors. Effective communication design matches the medium to the goals of the message, the context, and the audience, balancing clarity, efficiency, and cost. Technological change keeps expanding the range of available mediums and can alter social dynamics of communication.

This concept underpins theories of information transfer, media richness, and channel capacity, and remains central in fields such as journalism, organizational communication, marketing, and human-computer interaction.