Multimodal vs. Multimedia?

Before reading: I feel like there has to be a difference between the two words, because you grouped the two together and they sound/appear so similar. I also think that they are correlated in some manner. (And I love the picture, lolcats!)

I think multimodal is similar to multimedia; however, multimodal seems more like something that could be depicted in every day form of communication. By talking to a friend, writing a blog, listening to music or watching a dancer. It is connecting the style of communication to something more along the lines of human emotion. We might not understand exactly how someone’s tone can either raise our spirits or leave a stinging mark, but majority wise a person’s human nature can pick up on these slight cues. Maybe that is more how I would describe multimodal, as an awareness to everyday cues around you and how you first instinctively react to them (and then if you’re a major girl) then try to explain the rational as to the behavior and what your reaction should then be. (Could be quite a mess! But I think we do it every day and in every waking scenario, I’m sure some people might think there are ways we even do this in our sleep, etc. dreaming, sleep walking.) However, one thing is for sure, one multimodal form might not work as well as others. Thankfully there are plenty of forms to use!

Multimedia is somewhat simpler, because I think it is an idea that is thought out before being delivered. There are plenty of multimodal interactions that go on behind just one form of multimedia. Multimedia has a direct audience they are aiming at. It uses the idea of human emotion and tries to manipulate that to whatever way works best. Overall, I think multimedia uses/overlaps with multimodal methods.

I’m not sure if there is a way in which these two roles could be reversed?