Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft:
Influences on Mass Communication Research

Ferdinand Tonnies, a German sociologist, distinguished two basic social groups: gemeinschaft and gesellschaft. Literally translated gemeinschaft means ‘community,' and gesellschaft means ‘society'. These sociological concepts can be applied to mass communication research as well. Cultures transform from pre-industrial, traditional communities into modern, urbanized societies. At the same time, mass media develop and transmit the critical ideas of the emerging mass society. The gemeinschaft and gesellschaft concepts can be used to explain the differences and similarities between communication in traditional and modern cultures.

Gemeinschaft is the traditional community. Families and neighborhoods are the boundaries of the gemeinschaft world. The members of the community find strength in their similarities, and operate under a collective conscience. Religion and morality are upheld by the masses. Communication consists of face-to-face interaction, and ideas are transmitted through an oral culture.

On the other hand, gesellschaft is modern society. Cities and states are the building blocks of gesellschaft. Divisions of labor and goal-oriented behavior are distinctive to the gesellschaft world. Individualism is encouraged, and members practice contractual morality. Laws and public opinion overpower religion. Communication is no longer one on one, but few to many. The mass media create and broadcast the ideas which collectively become the binding consciousness of gesellschaft.

In theory, gemeinschaft and gesellschaft are unique from one another. However, in reality they work together to form levels of developing societies. No modern society is completely without some aspects of traditional community, such as family ties and oral traditions.

One study which exemplifies the gemeinschaft and gesellschaft concepts was The People's Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His Mind in a Presidential Election by Lazarsfeld, et.al. (1948). The actual aim of the study was to analyze how and why people vote as they do, and the influence of mass media political campaigns. As the study progressed, the researchers noted the significant role of interpersonal communication in the decision-making process. The "two-step flow" communication hypothesis emerged. It contends that information from the mass media first flows to opinion leaders (individuals in tune with the media who advise their peers), and then on to the general public. This research showed that these social relationships had a stronger influence on the voters' decisions than the mass media had. Up to this point in mass communication research, one on one interactions had not been considered a significant step of the information process. The importance of the oral culture of gemeinschaft persists even in modern society (gesellschaft.)

Another study which relied on the gemeinschaft and gesellschaft concepts was The Diffusion of Hybrid Seed Corn in Two Iowa Communities by Ryan and Gross (1943). The study aimed to determine which channels of information were most influential in the farmers' decision to adopt the innovative seed. Innovation is a stage of modernization which marks the changes in a culture from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft. The mass media were found to influence some of those farmers who adopted the hybrid seed. This is understandable because the initial information concerning this new product was distributed via radio advertisements. The researchers also studied the interpersonal communication processes between farmers and their neighbors and relatives. Neighbors were found to be the most influential sources of information in the decision to adopt; close second was the influence from salesmen, another face-to-face gemeinschaft interaction.

A more recent example of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft in mass communication research is the revived notion of a "global village," first introduced by Marshall Mc Luhan in the 1960s, and currently used to describe the communication possibilities in the today's electronic culture. There is a possibility of a shift back to a gemeinschaft-like world as a result of new media practices. Modern societies could be linked electronically, enabling communities that are on opposite sides of the globe to interact as if they were geographically closer. A shared consciousness could develop in such a universal mass society. Mass media producers are all for this idea of a "global village" and the communication utopia it would create. Media critics, however, are not as optimistic. Richard Worringham argues that although the technology is becoming available for such a connectedness to occur, there are still obstacles to overcome.

He concludes:
"Since the seventies, the telecommunications industries have taken advantage of the development of satellite communication, providing the potential for world community...Since that time, economical, technological and informational ‘gaps' between developed and developing countries, have been growing at an alarming rate, creating the potential for world anomy...Mc Luhan's notion of the global village is yet but a vision" (1990).

Raymond Gozzi notes the oxymoronic quality of Mc Luhan's "global village" metaphor. He writes, "‘Global' implies a planet-wide network, encompassing thousands of miles and billions or people. ‘Village' implies small, face-to-face communities" (1996). Perhaps, in this way, the global village can only be a unique blend of the gemeinschaft and gesellschaft concepts.

Reference List

Lowery, S., and M. De Fleur. 1995. Milestones in Mass Communication Research: Media Effects. 3rd ed. New York: Longman.

Mc Luhan, M. 1964. Understanding the Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Mowlana, H. 1995. The Communication Paradox. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 51:40-46.

Willis, J. 1995. The Age of Multimedia and Turbonews. Futurist 29:18-23.

Worringham, R.E. 1990. Satellite Communication: Potential for Global Communication or Global Anomy. International Journal of Instructional Media 17:191-203.

Rebecca L. Ash
JRL 304
3/8/99