Affordances & Constraints

Affordances and constraints are the benefits and limitations to a specific medium. All mediums have material properties that directly influence the work being presented. John Walter further explains these influences by stating, “These (material) properties determine a multitude of factors including how portable it is, how malleable it is, how transferable it is, how durable or fragile it is, how transmittable it is, as well as issues such as the ways in which we can transmit, transport, copy, manipulate, preserve, and share it” (Walter). These factors that Walter listed create a personal influence on an individual’s work, directly impacting them.

For example, paper is a common medium, making it easily accessible - an affordance. However, it can be easily destroyed by liquid, fire, age, etc. - a constraint. In comparison, text messaging has the affordance of using emojis. Yumna Samie explains that emojis helps to convey emotions over text, illustrating how the individual feels about the conversation, which mimics the acts of infliction, facial expression, and body language that people normally use in person (04:10 - 04:30). As writers and authors in new media, it is beneficial to understand the affordances and constraints of specific mediums because it can help us to choose the best fit for our audience. This ensures that the message we want to send is being delivered correctly, and that our audience is not accidentally confusing the information given to them.

However, affordances and constraints go beyond this individual approach, as they reach the societal level as well. Gunther Kress states, “Societies and their cultures select ‘materials’ – sound, clay, movement (of parts) of the body, surfaces, wood, stone – which seem useful or necessary for meaning-work in that culture to be done. Selections from the potentials for making meaning which these materials offer, are constantly made in the social shaping of modes” (“Mode” 82). Depending on the societal and cultural factors of a place or situation, different ‘materials’ are utilized where they are deemed necessary. These typically impact the area in a deeply meaningful way, proving that affordances and constraints have universal effects as well as individualistic. The example Kress uses is sign-language. He explains, “In communities of humans who are speech-impaired, the affordances of the body – the positioning and the movement of limbs, of facial expression – are developed into fully articulated modes, so-called sign-languages. In communities where speech is available, only a narrow selection of these affordances is used, in gesture” (“Mode” 82-83).

The concept of affordances and constraints further develops society by creating social and cultural opportunities and consequences. These are responsible for improving or implicating their citizens and their lives, likely without them even realizing. In English, the way we pronounce our words and the pitch of our tone can easily alter the way we communicate. However, most people do not consider this to be an affordance nor a constraint of our society’s modes, and this concept does not always apply to all languages and cultures, again impacting the way people live. Conceptualizing affordances and constraints in this context can help us as individuals to live and succeed in life, as we become more socially and culturally aware.

“Mode.” Multimodality: A Social Semiotic Approach to Contemporary Communication, by Gunther Kress, Routledge, 2009, pp. 79–102.

Samie, Yumna. “Remediation! Context Part 2: Study Hall Writing Composition #13: ASU + Crash Course.” YouTube, uploaded by Arizona State University, 24 June 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T169ogVcN9Q&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=ArizonaStateUniversity.

Walter, John. “Lecture: Of Mediums, Media, and Materiality.” Cyber-Rhetoric: Literature, Theory, Technology, 2 Sept. 2014, www.jpwalter.com/cyber-rhetoric/archives/222.

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Affordances & Constraints are a set of paired terms that when applied in the context of communications and rhetoric, signify the strengths of weaknesses that a particular medium has, respectfully. When the term medium is used, it refers to a catalyst for a writer’s message, and how that message gets to the audience. Usually, within the terms of various types of media such as television, video, film, or written documentation, which are all considered popular mediums for writers. Affordances narrows in on the benefits a particular medium can bring when writing a message or expressing information. Writers tend to write with the intention of throwing a message out to the public. There are usually mediums that better display their message than others depending on the nature of it.

For instance, if a writer wants to implement visuals, film and video can reliably display visual information in a format that written documentation is not able to. Constraints makes direct reference to the shortcomings a medium carries with it. Writers must consider these weaknesses as they craft their work. To return to the earlier example: while visual mediums like film and video are great in displaying visual information, they are lacking when compared to written medium’s use as a means for long-distance communication. Both of the aforementioned visual mediums can display a good amount of imagery in a short amount of time. With written works such as emails or letters, the recipient of your information is given more time to react and reflect on what is being said to them. Which is optimal for conversation.

John Walter is a writer and professor of all matters of subjects pertaining to media and technology’s influence on culture, who extensively comments on the impact of affordances & constraints in his article “Cyber-Rhetoric: Literature, Theory, Technology.” The article goes on to state that “All media, physical or digital, have material properties, and those material properties help define the affordances and constraints of their respective media,” (Walter). Thus, when creating a message for an audience, you must acknowledge the particular strengths and weaknesses attached to the medium chosen. Otherwise, as a direct result of your lack of analysis on the nature of your message, it’s original meaning can be unintentionally changed depending on the medium it was translated onto. If you’re attempting to ask someone a question and hold conversation, perhaps film shouldn’t be your first choice. Asking a question in a film can be interpreted differently than in a simple email.

Affordances & Constraints also operate under the idea of materiality. Which is the concept of one’s material when crafting a message has an impact as to how we, as a society, engage with the media as a whole. “Or, let’s say that we’ve not made an error and we want to send our message to a friend. If we’ve written the message out on paper with a pencil or a pen, we can send that piece of paper to our friend with relative ease. If we’ve written the message on a stone wall, however, we have real challenges to overcome if we’re going to send the message anywhere,” (Walter). In essence, as technologies evolve, writers must adapt to these changes and come to a logical conclusion as to which medium is best fit for their situation. Which medium is able to provide the most amounts of affordances and the least amount of constraints proportional to their message.