🤫 Private communication 🔁 Secondary data path 🗣️ Listener response

backchannel

6.8

A separate channel used to send feedback or control messages to the sender

noun
/ˈbækˌtʃænəl/

Specialized

: canal de retorno

Two trans women who blog under pseudonyms are currently being blackmailed, given threats that their real ID will be released, after illegal access was gained to their platform's backchannel.

Examples

Teachers often create a backchannel during lectures to allow students to ask questions while they are talking.
Set up a backchannel using a tool such as Todaysmeet (todaysmeet.com) that can be used for sharing ideas during a presentation.

Academic text (2011)
During the conference, participants used a backchannel to share their feedback and ideas without interrupting the main speaker.
The app provides a backchannel feature that enables users to communicate secretly during a video call.

Synonyms

subchannel

vsbackchannel

Specialized

1 7.0

A separate part of a signal used to send one stream of digital data

is a secondary path for feedback or control from receiver to sender

Surface Forms

backchannel singular

backchannels plural

Morphology

backchannel = back + channel (transparent) = back + channel

In technical usage it denotes a secondary/return communication path; 'back' + 'channel' maps directly onto this technical concept.

Etymology

Backchannel comes from back ('return' or 'second') and channel ('path' or 'way' to send information, like a TV channel). So in technology a backchannel is a second path used to send feedback or control information back to the sender.