ABSTRACT
We enlarge on the metaphor of communication as a landscape. The metaphor has several advantages: it emphasises that semiosis is an action; it underlines the crucial function of position in understanding semiosis; it provides a methodological tool for studying communication relationships; and it clearly demonstrates that communication and semiosis are non-predictable. Two landscapes are described. First is a landscape from an ant’s point of view—as an ant you do not know who will respond to the texts you send out, as the uneven terrain does not allow you to see the other participants. As a case in point, tread carefully in the tricky, hazardous environment of the social media. The second landscape is a giant trampoline. As you and others move about on it and see things from different perspectives, its elasticity creates troughs and ridges. This represents the countless activities involved in human communication, every one of which changes the semiotic universe. The more certain you are of where you are and where you are going (your assumptions, beliefs, and so on), the deeper the troughs and the higher the ridges you create, until you cannot see over the top (your ideas are indeed entrenched).
