Teaching Social Media and Electronic Communication

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• What's the difference between social media and electronic media?

• How is social media changing how we communicate?

• How, specifically, might a new business use social media?

• What types of social media and electronic communication should be taught in a business communication course today?

• What should instructors be teaching about social media and electronic communication?

• What additional resources are recommended for teaching social media and electronic communication?

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Electronic communication is any communication done electronically. All social media are part of electronic communication, but not all

electronic communication is social media.

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What is social media?

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Social media are electronic media that transform passive audiences into active participants in the communication process

by allowing them to share content, revise content, respond to content, or contribute new content.

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In short, social media is a conversation supported by online tools.

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Tools such as these: 

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

LinkedIn

Flickr

Digg

Delicious

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Facebook, a social networking site, is the #1 website worldwide with more page views than Google

33% of Facebook users are fans of brands – the #1 reason: To get special offers and promotions.

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On YouTube, the average user spends 15 minutes a day on the site.

More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than all 3 major U.S. networks created in 60 years.

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A recent survey suggested that video company profiles on YouTube have more measurable impact than company profiles

on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other prominent sites.

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• research

• collaboration

• company updates

• coupons and notice of sales

• tips on product usage

• information from experts

• backchannel in meetings and presentations

• customer service with individuals

Microblogs

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Social network and blogging sites are now the 4th most popular activity online, even ahead of personal e-mail.

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75% of Americans and 66% of the global Internet population visit social networks.

Americans

75%Visit

25%Don’tVisit

Global Internet Population

66%Visit

34%Don’tVisit

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93% of Americans believe that a company should have a presence on social media sites. 

85% believe that these companies should use these services to interact with consumers.

Presence on Social Media Sites

93%Yes

7%No

Use SM to Interact with Consumers

85%Yes

15%No

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Social media is not a fad.

 It’s a fundamental shift in the way all of us communicate.

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The old communication model was a monologue.

 “We talk. You listen.”

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The average person is exposed to an average of 3,000 advertising messages a day.

But consumers aren’t listening anymore. Interruptive marketing has seen its day.

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The new communication model is a dialogue.

 It should be transparent, authentic, vibrant, and consumer-driven.

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In a social media environment, effective communication is no longer about broadcasting a tightly controlled message but

rather about initiating conversations and participating in conversations started by customers and other stakeholders.

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This year Millenials/Gen Y-ers now outnumber Baby Boomers.

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Millenials spend 16 hours a week online.

 96% have joined a social network.

 They have an average of 53 online friends.

 

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70% of them trust recommendations of consumers they don’t know.

 90% of them trust recommendations by people they do know.

 

Consumers Not Known

70%Trust

30%Don’tTrust

Consumers Known

90%Trust

10%Don’t Trust

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In short, they don’t care about ads or sales presentations.

 They care about what their friends think.

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Millenials/Gen Y-ers also expect to be able to use social media on the job.

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Artisan Flavors Ice Cream Shop, a recently opened and independently owned ice cream store with the ice cream made on the premises.

• Videos (YouTube, Vimeo)

• Podcasts (iTunes)

• Press Releases (PRNewswire)

• Maps (Google)

• Photos (Flickr)

• Conversations (Twitter, Facebook)

• Blogs (WordPress, Blogger)

• Yelp (Reviews)

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• Presentations (Slideshare)

• Livecasting (Ustream.tv)

• Customer Service (Crowdsound)

• Collaboration (Wikspaces)

• SMS/Voice/Video (Yahoo Messenger, Skype)

• Events (Zvents)

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But not only is the communication model changing, what is being taught in a typical business communication course is changing, too.

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Memos and letters still have a role, to be sure, but they are being replaced in many instances by a

growing variety of electronic media.

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These disruptive forces never stop, either. Some first-generation electronic media are already being supplanted by new social

media tools. For example, in many instances microblogs, blogs, newsfeeds, and social networking sites are replacing e-mail.

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There are two fallacies about teaching social media and electronic communication.

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Fallacy #1: Instant messaging (IM), blogs, social networks, microblogs, wikis, and other new media are social toys, not business tools.

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A year or two ago, one might have asked, “Who is using these new media?” Today, the question is more like, “Who isn’t?”

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But large companies aren’t the only ones using social media. Thousands of small companies are using social media, too.

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Fallacy #2: Students already know how to use all these new media, so instructors don’t need to cover them in class.

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Most students may know how to use these media, but only those with significant work experience are likely to

know how to use them in a professional context. Students need to get practical advice on using all of these media in

ways that meet the expectations of the employers.

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Emphasizing the tools students will be expected to use on the job is critical, but even that is only part of the

story. Even more important than the tools themselves is the profound shift that these tools have enabled, which

needs to be explained to students.

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Businesses that stick with the old “we talk, you listen” mode of unilateral communication increasingly find that nobody is willing to listen anymore. Therefore, to succeed in this new business environment, business communicators must approach their

tasks with a new mindset, in addition to these new tools.

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Echoing the shift from the Web’s 1.0’s unidirectional model to Web 2.0’s interactive, conversational model, we

call this new approach Business Communication 2.0.

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We encourage instructors today to introduce students to this vitally important way of thinking about

communication, and instruct them in the professional use of social media, such as in these examples.

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It’s important for instructors to teach social media in an integrated fashion throughout the course so that students

learn how to use these tools while addressing the wide range of communication challenges they will face on the job.

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The Nine Compositional Modes of Social Media: 

• Conversations

• Comments and critiques

• Orientations

• Summaries

• Reference materials

• Narratives

• Teasers

• Status updates and announcements

• Tutorials

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Students should be provided with more than just brief descriptions of social media tools. They need detailed

illustrations with annotations so that they feel a familiarity and a connection to the tools they’ll be using on the job.

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Social Networking

An example of a social networking site is Biznik. It has a number of photos of people, attention-getting

headings, and brief, descriptive statements.

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Active learning is important, so correlating with the textual material and illustrations should be exercises and cases. In

this case, the student is asked to write brief statements including an introduction, to give a short description of

educational background, and to list the types of connections he or she would like to make on a social network.

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This example of a blog provides annotations on each side of the blog page that explains to students the typical

elements and structure of a business blog.

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The caption for this figure showing a blog explains how blogs sometimes replace the traditional news release

so a company can control and distribute such messages themselves. The strategically placed

annotations provide advice for how to write blog posts.

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With the addition of video, blogging becomes a true multimedia experience that gives bloggers an easy way

to share insights and sounds with their audiences.

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Moblogs are blogs adapted for display on mobile devices such as phones.

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Students should be provided with a wide variety of opportunities to write blog posts through both cases

and exercises. Here are just two examples.

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The caption for this figure showing a business instant message gives sound advice to readers about not using an informal style that students might use for family and friends. The annotations analyze the elements of the

instant messaging window as well as the content.

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And here is an exercise that is an exchange by way of instant messaging in which the student is asked to explain how the customer service agent could

have handled a situation more effectively.

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And here is an instant messaging case that asks students to rewrite an IM in a more businesslike style and tone.

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Here is a text-messaging case.

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Students can learn from this example of the Public Relations Wiki the features typically used to create and edit wiki pages.

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But just showing a webpage of a wiki is not nearly enough. Students should experience using a wiki. That’s why we

offer on our website a wiki simulator to give students hands-on experience using a real, live wiki editor.

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We encourage you to show the podcasting process, but then go a step further by having your students listen to podcasts on our books’ websites so they can analyze and critique them for

more in-depth learning of the podcasting process.

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We also encourage you to assign your students podcasting cases. In this example, students are asked to revise the introduction of a podcast script based on what they’ve learned in the electronic communication

chapter that includes a section on podcasting.

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Twitter is the most popular microblogging tool, but there are a number of others, including microblogging tools for enterprise.

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Teach microblogging skills with cases, such as this example in which students are asked to write an updating to JetBlue’s Twitter fans about fare auctions on eBay.

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Students can expect to participate in many online meeting during their careers. Web-based meeting systems offer powerful tools for communication, and students need to be proficient at using

these tools to be effective during an online meeting.

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Students should know that many companies are now using Second Life as a virtual meeting place. This is an example of

Cranial Tap, whose online headquarters is shown here.

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Teach students that videoconferencing provides many of the same benefits as in-person meetings at a fraction of the cost. Advanced systems feature telepresence, in which the video

images are life-sized and extremely realistic.

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Today it’s common practice for students to prepare e-portfolios to tell potential employers about their qualifications and skills.

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The cases you have your students complete should also be useful as portfolio builders, an with this e-mail case

being a potential example for a student’s portfolio.

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Workspace systems will give virtual teams instant access to the documents, calendars, and other files and

information needed for successful collaboration.

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This webpage of Yahoo Answers is a typical Community Q&A page.

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Aggregators, sometimes called newsreaders, automatically collect information that can be automatically published as blog

posts. Businesses are also now sending some messages to both internal and external audiences via newsfeeds instead of e-mail.

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Audiences get involved in the communication process when they find and recommend online content through

tagging and bookmarking sites such as Delicious.

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Internets and blogs are now commonly used to distribute meeting minutes.

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In teaching your business communication course, take advantage of Bovee & Thill’s “Learn More” feature

throughout their books that demonstrate social media and electronic communication in action by using online

video, PowerPoints, and podcasts.

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All examples and illustrations of social media and electronic tools as well as the exercises and cases shown

in this presentation were taken directly from Bovee & Thill’s business communication textbooks.

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For a rich array of resources for teaching social media and electronic communication, go to Business Communication

Headline News, look under “Categories” in the left-hand column, and select the topics in which you’re interested.

www.businesscommunicationheadlinenews.com

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For teaching tips and techniques, often about social media and electronic communication, go to Bovee & Thill’s blog: www.boveeandthillbusinesscommunicationblog.com

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For more than 175 PowerPoint slideshows, many dealing with social media and electronic communication, go to

Real-Time Updates and select “Instructor Media.”

Contact Information

Courtland L. Bovee

E-mail address:

cbovee@businesscommunicationblog.com

Or contact us on the web at:

http://boveeandthillbusinesscommunicationblog.com