What is Shannon and Weaver model of communication?
In 1948, a Mathematician and an Engineer named Shannon and Weaver proposed a communication model known as “Bell system technical journal” or “Shannon and Weaver model of communication”. This model revolves around the idea that in order to have an interaction, there must be a sender and a receiver. According to Shannon and Weaver, effective communication could be achieved by having these two parties involved.
The picture above shows the process involved within a communication according to Shannon and Weaver. Starting from the sender sending information source until the receiver receiving the informations after being processed. However, there might be some disturbaces during the interaction process in which it is called as the “Noise”, and it could come in different forms such as thunder, crowd noise, or encoded signal.
Is it considered to be a complete form of communication?
Even though “Shannon and Weaver model of communication” helps in making communication more effective however, it is not considered to be a complete form of communication. First of all, it is because this model is neglecting some aspects such as emotions, feelings, psychological factors, and others. Including emotion and psychological factors within a communication would prevent both sender and receiver from having miscommunication.
For an instance, Whatsapp is considered to be a non-verbal communication method because both party are not able to look at each other’s reaction. Imagine if a sender is used to sending “okay” as “K” through text eventhough he is actually fine and does not mean to be rude. However, the receiver could perceive it wrongly and he/she might think that the sender does not have any interest in talking to the receiver. Therefore, this would lead to miscommunication.
Secondly, Shannon and Weaver model is not applicable when it comes to communicating with a large crowd due to the great amount of noise. Interacting with a large crowd means the information sent by the sender has to go through a long and tedious channels with a lot of noise in it. Therefore, some information may be lost and it would result in an ineffective communication. For example, when a principal is giving a disciplinary speech to students and suddenly the microphone has some technical issue which results in the microphone making loud noises. Due to this error, the students may perceive the principal’s information wrongly.
Because of this, the model is only useful when used to target a one-to-one exchange communication because of the lesser amount of noise occurring during the interaction.
Michael Lazuardi 
Hi, I do agree that Shannon and Weaver’s model do not fully cover all aspects of communication. Are you able to provide some examples/illustrations as to how the missing factors would help to alleviate some of the faults in the model?
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Hi Michael, this has been a good read for me. You had pointed out the flaws in the model in detail and explained it clearly. I like your usage of the pictures as it gives a break from the long text. The part where there is a lack of human factors are similar to what I believe. I like that your example of the text messaging that perception plays a huge part in communication. I agree that noise is a deciding factor and that this model is more suited for one-to-one communication. Lastly i would like to recommend you look at Dwyer’s model as an improvement to this model as it includes the perception of the sender and receiver.
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Hey Micheal!
I like how you touch upon the history behind the Shannon and Weaver model of Communication, giving us enough information without making it too long or painfully dry. I also like the attempts you made at humor to lighten up the topic, memes will never get old and stale for they age like wine. I too agree that the Shannon and Weaver fails to take into account many vital factors that would come into play when communication between two people. And I also agree that the Shannon and Weaver model of communication fails in application when used to model communication to a large group.
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Hi Michael, your explanation about the Shannon and Weaver Communication model was spot on! I had a good time reading your post as it was clearly written and well-thought. The flow was smooth. I like your example of K, which can be widely accepted by everyone. I agree that the model lacks some aspects such as emotion, feelings, etc. Nonetheless, good job on this post. Can’t wait for your next post!
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Hi Michael, I like that your blog post is clear and simple, and I find it very informative. The picture “K’ picture you used is totally relatable. I agree that the Shannon and Weaver’s communication model lack of emotions, feelings, psychological factors. I strongly believe miscommunication will occur frequently without those criteria in consideration. Nonetheless, your blog post is well organized and structured, I look forward to reading your next blog post.
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Hi Michael! Good introduction to the Shannon and Weaver’s communication model and how it works. I do agree with you that the Shannon and Weaver’s model is incomplete. It can be used as a starting point when it comes to understanding how a communication process works between a sender and a receiver. But because context and perception are missing from the model, it may cause misunderstanding between the two parties when they are trying to get their message across. The examples that you gave were also clear in helping to understand the model better. I look forward your future posts!
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You did a great analysis of the model and the diagram really helps me understand it well. I agree with you that it is not a complete form of communication because of the same reasons. Interpersonal communication models need to include many different factors that are difficult to quantify in the context of mathematics (the Shannon Weaver model is a mathematical model for machines). Factors that you mentioned such as: emotions, feelings, psychological factors are all important factors in communication, and these cannot be represented in a mathematical model.
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Hi Michael!!
Clear description on the Shannon-Weaver model of communication! I do agree that the model is not complete. Communication can be not just 1 to 1 but 1 to many. The model has not taken that in to account , the larger the group would also create larger noise and more information could be corrupted and lost along the way!
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