According to media richness theory, why is face-to-face communication considered the richest medium? In your response, make sure to define “media richness” and address the four characteristics of rich media.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Media richness refers to the information-carrying capacity of a given
medium. We can measure media richness by assessing four characteristics:
speed of feedback, the ability to personalize the message, the availability of
multiple cues, and language variety. Face-to-face communication is considered
the most “rich” medium, in part because the speaker can adjust quickly to clarify
the message based on instantaneous feedback. Likewise, face-to-face
interaction easily allows the sender to customize the message for each audience.
Face-to-face communication includes verbal and nonverbal cues so that the
sender can reiterate the message with language and also with facial expressions,
gestures, eye contact, and so forth. Finally, face-to-face interaction allows the
sender to include/exclude jargon or other specialized language, based on the
receiver. Because face-to-face communication happens synchronously in “real
time,” the sender can immediately use feedback to adapt and respond instantly,
thereby minimizing equivocality.