Features of the development of corporate communications in the network society: multimedia, cross-media, and transmedia

Abstract

This article examines the development of corporate communications in the network society and provides a comparative analysis of the essence and approaches to organizing media produc tion (multimedia, cross-media, and transmedia). The comparative analysis is based on the five key elements of communication: 1) communicator; 2) message; 3) communication channel; 4) re cipient; 5) communication goal. When comparing approaches to the organization of communica tions, the author also applies the ideas of M. Morris and C. Ogan to classify forms of digital communication by: 1) temporal mode; 2) the nature of interaction; and 3) the direction of initia tive in communication. The study was carried out on a sample of 553 media texts using a system ic approach to analyzing the organization of corporate communication systems in two industrial corporations operating in the Ural Federal District. The obtained results allowed systematizing the existing differences and clarifying the boundaries between multimedia, cross-media, and transmedia approaches to organizing media production in corporate communications within the network society. The author also determined that the cross-media approach is the most relevant method of organizing media production within the communication system of industrial companies.