Chapter 6 Crafting Messages for Electronic Media Chapter 6 discusses electronic media, social media, e-mail, instant messages, text messages, and how to adapt the 3 step writing process for IM and text messages.

Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you will be able to: Identify the major electronic media used for brief business messages and name some of the compositional modes needed for electronic media Describe the use of social networks in business communication Describe the evolving role of e-mail in business communication and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to e-mail messages Describe the business benefits of instant messaging (IM) and identify guidelines for effective IM in the workplace After studying this chapter, you will be able to: Identify the major electronic media used for brief business messages and name some of the compositional modes needed for electronic media. Describe the use of social networks in business communication. Describe the evolving role of e-mail in business communication and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to e-mail messages. Describe the business benefits of instant messaging (IM) and identify guidelines for effective IM in the workplace. 6-2

Electronic Media for Business Communication Social networks Information and media sharing sites E-mail Instant messaging (IM) Text messaging Media Choices for Brief Messages The use of social media represents a fundamental shift in business communication. The shift is still taking place, as more consumers adopt social media and businesses experiment with the best ways to integrate these media and to adapt their internal and external communication practices. Social media are not the only options available for business communication, of course. Individuals and companies have a broad range of options for sending brief messages (from one or two sentences up to several pages long), including the following: Social networks Information and media sharing sites e-mail Instant messaging (IM) Text messaging

Creating Content for Conversation – not lecture Informal but not careless Concise, specific, informative Get involved – stay involved Promote, but indirectly Be transparent and honest Surrender illusion of control Think before you post! There are a lot of different compositional modes to use: from conversations to summaries; from narratives to status updates and announcements. No matter what media or compositional mode you are using for a particular message, writing for social media requires a different approach than traditional media. Whether you’re writing a blog or posting a product demonstration video to YouTube, consider these tips for creating successful content for social media: Remember that it’s a conversation, not a lecture or a sales pitch. Write informally but not carelessly. Create concise, specific, and informative headlines. Get involved and stay involved. If you need to promote something, do so indirectly. Be transparent and honest. Surrender the illusion of control. Think before you post!

Explaining Social Media in an Unusual Way Students your age have grown up with social media. But for those who get confused about the difference between photos and posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, here’s an amusing take on donuts . . . And then cupcakes. So you can use this to explain this to your parents.

E-mail E-mail has been a primary medium for many companies for several decades, and in the beginning it offered a huge advantage in speed and efficiency over the media it frequently replaced (printed and faxed messages). Over the years, e-mail began to be used for many communication tasks simply because it was the only widely available electronic medium for written messages and millions of users were comfortable with it. However, newer tools such as instant messaging, text messaging, blogs, microblogs, social networks, and shared workspaces are taking over specific tasks for which they are better suited.

Writing Business E-mail Messages More formal than personal e-mails Writing quality needs to be higher Consequences of bad writing or poor judgment can be much more serious When you approach e-mail writing on the job, recognize that business e-mail is a more formal medium than you are probably accustomed to with e-mail for personal communication. The expectations of writing quality for business e-mail are higher than for personal e-mail, and the consequences of bad writing or poor judgment can be much more serious. For example, e-mail messages and other electronic documents have the same legal weight as printed documents, and they are often used as evidence in lawsuits and criminal investigations.

Completing E-mail Messages Simplicty Easily readable, black font Set up an e-mail signature at the end of your e-mail Full name Title Company Contact information Particularly for important messages, taking a few moments to revise and proofread might save you hours of headaches and damage control. Also, favor simplicity when it comes to producing your e-mail messages. A clean, easily readable font, in black on a white background, is sufficient for nearly all e-mail messages. Take advantage of your e-mail system’s ability to include an e-mail signature, a small file that automatically includes such items as your full name, title, company, and contact information at the end of your messages.

Instant Messaging and Text Messaging IM in stand-alone systems Embedded in online meeting and collaboration systems, social networks Replacing e-mail and voice mail in many situations Basic chat and video chat Presence awareness Remote display Computer-based instant messaging (IM), in which users’ messages appear on each other’s screens instantly, is used extensively for internal and external communication. IM is available in both stand-alone systems and as a function embedded in online meeting systems, collaboration systems, social networks, and other platforms. For conversational exchanges, it’s hard to top the advantages of IM, and the technology is replacing both e-mail and voice mail in many situations. Business-grade IM systems offer a range of capabilities, including basic chat and video chat, presence awareness (the ability to quickly see which people are at their desks and available to IM), and remote display of documents.

Understanding the BENEFITS of IM Rapid response Lower cost Resembles conversation better than e-mail Used on a wide range of devices Doesn’t get misused as a “one-to-many” broadcast as often as e-mail The benefits of IM include its capability for rapid response to urgent messages, lower cost than phone calls and e-mail, ability to mimic conversation more closely than e-mail, and availability on a wide range of devices. In addition, because it more closely resembles one-on-one conversation, IM doesn’t get misused as a one-to-many broadcast method as often as e-mail does. Understanding the BENEFITS of IM

Understanding the RISKS IM Not enough oversight Diminished employee productivity Disregard of compliance/legal issues Frustration due to the number of conversations that a person can handle Seen as a permanent work interruption DON’T use instant messaging to deal with conflicts http://mattdsimpson.com/8-risks- associated-with-instant-messaging/ Like any tool, there are risks associated with the use of Instant Messaging in the workplace: Not enough oversight – Be sure your staff can handle it and won’t chat up their friends all day rather than focusing on their work. Diminished employee productivity – Sometimes staff can get lost in conversation and interruptions from IM.  Be sure that staff understand it’s OK to set their status to “unavailable” and make time to get work done. Disregard of compliance/legal issues - Harassment and other compliance issues are potential issues with frequent use of IM because it creates a perceived “private” area to talk.  Reiterate any compliance or legal policies to ensure staff is aware of the risks. The number of conversations that a person can handle - If one person is getting too many IMs at once, it can be stressful.  The person needs to feel empowered to manage and respond to IMs just as they would email, by sorting and prioritizing.  If they need to take a break, they can always change their status and step away for a moment. Seen as a permanent work interruption – If not managed and used properly, like any piece of technology, IM can be interruptive.  Setting strong policies and procedures will help ensure that this isn’t the case for your organization. DON’T use IM to deal with conflicts – seems like this should go without saying, but people like to hide behind technology sometimes.  If there is a conflict, steer as far away from technology as possible.  Pick up the phone, or go see the person if you can.  Deal with the issue, don’t use technology as a crutch. Understanding the RISKS of IM

Adapting the Three-Step Process for Successful IM Plan Write Complete Although instant messages are often conceived, written, and sent within a matter of seconds, the principles of the three-step process still apply, particularly when communicating with customers and other important audiences: Planning instant messages. Writing instant messages. Completing instant messages.

Learning Objectives: Check Your Progress Identify the major electronic media used for brief business messages and name some of the compositional modes needed for electronic media Describe the use of social networks in business communication Describe the evolving role of e-mail in business communication and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to e-mail messages Describe the business benefits of instant messaging (IM) and identify guidelines for effective IM in the workplace Check your progress: Identify the major electronic media used for brief business messages and name some of the compositional modes needed for electronic media. Social networks Information and media sharing sites e-mail Instant messaging (IM) Text messaging Compositional modes: A few are conversations, summaries, narratives, status updates and announcements. Describe the use of social networks in business communication. DIDN’T COVER IN DEPTH – Fostering collaboration Building communities Socializing brands and companies Understanding target markets Recruiting employees Supporting customers Describe the evolving role of e-mail in business communication and explain how to adapt the three-step writing process to e-mail messages. Used for many years as it was the only widely-available form of electronic media. Has been slowly replaced by newer tools such as IM, blogs, social networks and shared workspaces. PLAN by avoiding actions that can cause trouble; RECOGNIZE business e-mail is different from personal e-mail (bad writing, more serious consequences); COMPLETE by proofreading, clean and readable, includes a signature. Describe the business benefits of instant messaging (IM) and identify guidelines for effective IM in the workplace. Available instantly; can be embedded in collaboration systems, online meetings and social networks; business IM systems offer presence awareness and video capabilities. Lower cost that phone calls and e-mail; can be used on multiple types of devices.