What's the difference between the majors Mass Communications and Communications?

[Duchess of Cookieshire]

[Gracielacey]

I would think that Mass Communications has to deal with the technologies that help people to communicate...whereas Communications is the art and technique of communicating.

Get on your college website and read the degree synopsis for each..it will better explain it.

[CoachT]

Mass Communication (not plural) is a subfield of Communication.

Communication studies is the academic discipline which studies how people transfer information; subdisciplines include theories of communication, group communication, information theory, interpersonal communication, marketing, mass/media communication, organizational communication, propaganda, public affairs, public relations, speech communication, and telecommunications.

Mass communication is an academic specialty that examines the way media interacts with society and the impact and effectiveness of the media (papers, radio, magazines, TV, etc...) It's a "why" field and not a "how" field. As an example, marketing and advertising specialists (also communication professionals) would learn how to create an ad that sells perfume to young women. The media communication professional would look to understand "why" that ad either works or doesn't. They would consider whether placing the ad in Cosmo has a greater impact on sales than placing it in Rod and Gun (a simple example since this is obvious).

So, "communication" as a major is a generalist study not unlike "business" whereas "mass communication" is a specialist study not unlike the business major that concentrates on "accounting".

Many mass/media comm grads go on to work in broadcasting or print media. While communication as a field is a social science, mass communication is a specialty function of business.