The means of communication are technologies and instruments that allow the exchange of information, ideas and events between different groups of people and organizations.
These instruments are used to share news and content, are a source of entertainment and education, and are also used for advertising.
Some examples of means of communication are newspapers, letters, television, internet, email, radio, cell phones and social networks.
The media can be geared towards a large audience, such as television and radio. In this case, they are called mass media.
They can also be individual means of communication, that is, they have a more restricted audience, as is the case with the telephone.
Evolution of the media
Communicating and transmitting information has always been a human need, but the way communication takes place has changed a lot throughout the history of civilization.
In recent decades, technological evolution has made communication faster and more efficient. Today it is possible to be in contact with people on the other side of the planet from a smartphone.
But it was not always so. In prehistory, men made paintings on stones to record information and report events. With the development of language and, especially, of writing, communication undergoes a great advance.
O emergence of writing, inclusive, is what marks the end of Prehistory and the beginning of the Ancient Age, what happened between the years 4,000 a. C and 3,500 a. Ç.
Over the next few centuries, written accounts and letters were important means of communication. Letter delivery services were created, similar to what we know as mail.
The letters were taken to distant locations, but the time interval between sending and receiving the message could take months, as was the case with letters transported by ships.
It was only at the end of the 18th century, with the creation of the Telegraph, that messages could be passed quickly and from long distances.
Since then, the media has undergone great evolution. THE television it's the radio revolutionized mass communication from the 19th century onwards.
Years later, with the advent of Internet, communication reaches levels of evolution that were unimaginable before. The popularization of the internet allowed the creation of tools that keep the whole world in constant communication.
old media
Some old means of communication were replaced by more technological instruments, but many of them are still used today.
Sending letters is one of the oldest means of communication, it is believed that the Egyptians were the first to use this means to transmit information.
Today, postal services use advanced logistics to send letters and packages, but in antiquity, letters were sent by messengers and even by birds, such as pigeons and swallows.
Telegraph
The telegraph was created in 1790 by Claude Chappe, this device used electromagnetic impulses to send messages over long distances.
Communication by telegraph was done in codes and the Morse code was the most used technique for this type of communication.
Created in 1835, Morse code was a system that used dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. Dashes and dots were identified from short and long sounds.
Telegraph apparatus on display at the maritime museum of Denmark
Newspaper
The records of the first newspaper are from 50 a. C in the Roman Empire. Called Day Minutes, this means of communication was used to pass on information about the government to society.
The newspaper is a means of mass communication used to this day. In addition to the physical version, newspapers today are also usually available in an online version.
Paris newspaper, from the year 1784.
Radio
The radio appeared in 1860, its technology allowed the transmission of news and entertainment programs through electromagnetic waves.
Radio continues to be a widely used means of communication today, but in addition to wave transmission radios are also available in online versions and in device apps furniture.
Telephone
Invented around 1870, the telephone allowed the transmission of sounds by means of electrical signals. About 100 years after the phone's creation, in 1974, Martin Cooper created for the Motorola brand the first mobile phone device.
When they first appeared, cell phones were big, expensive and not available to the general public. In the mid-1980s cell phones began to be sold for personal use, but they were very expensive.
It was from the 1990s that the cell phone became popular as a means of communication. In addition to being smaller, these devices started to be manufactured with a lithium battery, which allowed greater autonomy.
Today cell phones have been replaced by smartphones, which, in addition to the connection and message functions, allow access to the internet.
Martin Cooper, inventor of the first cell phone.
Television
Television appears at the beginning of the 1920s and in 1928 the first TV transmission is carried out. At that time, this means of communication was hardly accessible, but it became popular in the late 1940s.
Despite the countless possibilities offered by the internet, television remains a very popular means of mass communication around the world.
Current media
Communication has changed in recent decades, especially after the popularization of the internet.
Computer
The first computer is from the 1940s and is called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). This computer allowed the processing of an unimaginable amount of data at the time.
In the years following the creation of ENIAC, computers were being improved, but until the mid-1970s they were developed for use in companies and organizations.
It wasn't until 1976, with the launch of the Apple - I, that computers became an article of personal use.
The computer becomes an important means of communication with the emergence of the internet and browsers.
Today the computer allows access to websites, blogs, social networks, streaming of movies and music. You can also make video calls and share your ideas, photos, videos and so on with people around the world.
Internet
The first prototype of what would be the internet was created in the 1960s. It was the Cold War context and the United States wanted to ensure efficient communication in case of an attack by the Soviet Union.
But it wasn't until 1990 that the internet started to become popular, with the creation of browsers World Wide Web (www) and the World Wide Web.
Since then, communication has transformed, becoming much faster and more efficient, reducing borders and enabling instant contact for people all over the world.
The way to consume content and entertainment has also changed. With the creation of blogs, social networks and video platforms, people are no longer just receivers of information and have become generators and spreaders of content.
Learn more about Internet.
smartphones
You smartphones are an evolution of cell phones. They allow access to the internet and have become one of the most important communication tools in the world.
Through the smartphones you can access any content from the internet, send instant messages, make video calls, share content, access social networks and, of course, make calls.
Types of media
Media are often classified as individual or mass media, and can also be classified according to language.
- Individual: means of communication used for interpersonal relationships, such as the telephone, email, mail and instant messaging applications.
- Pasta: also called media, are the means of communication aimed at broad communication, with a large number of receivers. This is the case of television, newspapers and magazines.
As for language, the means of communication can be:
- Writings: media that use text as the main language, for example, newspapers, magazines and websites.
- Sound: that use sound as a language, such as radio, telephone and podcasts.
- Audio-visual: use sound and image simultaneously, for example, television and cinema.
- Multimedia: they are the means that use several languages simultaneously, as is the case of the internet.
See also the meanings of Communication and media.