Define meta how to#

If someone says “I care about you” but doesn’t help you in times of need, there’s scope to explore more. The message is easily understood and straightforward. There are no higher levels of communication involved. These are examples of communication with hardly any metacommunication involved. You can convey the same message non-verbally by, for example, offering your coat to someone feeling cold. Saying “I care about you” is an example of verbal communication. Like communication, it can be either verbal or nonverbal. Since metacommunication is communication about communication, it has the same nature as communication. Similarly, in our day-to-day communication, metacommunication helps us to figure out the communication. If you were simply given the gadget without any extras, chances are you would’ve struggled to figure it out. Hence, a package of communication and metacommunication helps you better understand the communication. Metacommunications are secondary communications modifying the meaning of the primary communication. All these extra things comprise metacommunication.

The packaging tells you about the specifications and features of the gadget, and so on.Īll these extra things point to the gadget, the original message.

Define meta how to#

The instructional manual tells you how to use the gadget. All these additional things refer to or say something more about the gadget, the original message.įor example, the earphones tell you that you can plug them into the gadget. The store owner will typically give you the gadget with a package, an instruction manual, a warranty, and perhaps some accessories. Such communication is devoid of any higher levels of communication or metacommunication. If the store owner simply hands over the gadget to you, sans any package, it’s the simplest type of communication. The store owner is the sender, the gadget is the message, and you’re the receiver. Think of receiving communication as buying a new gadget. 1 In its simplest form, the communication process involves a sender who sends a message to a receiver. Metacommunication can be defined as ‘communication about communication’.