This week, we are primarily focusing on studio time, or time devoted to working on your deliverables, creating your final portfolio, catching up on weekly writing assignments, and any other work product related to the class. Make use of this time and our lab computers to get as much done before you leave today. Add a comment to this post for this week’s weekly writing assignment focused on our penultimate readings.
3 thoughts on “Week 14”
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To: Professor Ellis
From: Tiana Beatty
Date: Dec. 08. 22
Subject: Weekly Readings
This week readings about social media and writing really hit close to home. As a frequent social media user, though I rarely post; I’ve always used social media to catch up on the latest news whether it be on my friends and family or just recent news happening in the world. Overtime I’ve begun to notice that social media has become a source used for fact-checking and research because of how popular social media is. It’s easy to use social media because of the convenience it holds compared to serious news that’s displayed on television and in magazines and newspapers. Plus it’s impressive with how fast and vast social media has become. There are many different applications to social media and one doesn’t have to choose one to dive into; instead there are many options and the user can choose their preference. But in relation to writing, I have noticed that without the written form social media wouldn’t have invented the many different slangs, memes/pictures, arts, and videos that we would see today.
But using social media for technical writing wasn’t something I would deem to be possible especially for research purposes. I know that sometimes what we find on the Internet sometimes isn’t true, but it doesn’t stop us from using it and believing what’s real or not. I know that technical writing is mostly about using different technologies to write and communicate a message to others who want to learn, adapt, grow, and develop their skills in different areas of expertise and interests. Knowing that social media and technical communication can be used now and for the future I believe will change how writing is and will ever be. Social media is a booming technology that can eventually become a new research source that won’t just be for entertainment purposes but for other purposes that can be beneficial to the future.
TO: Professor Ellis
FROM: Khaled Akam
DATE: Dec 8, 2022
SUBJECT: Social media
The dangers in social media are potential as ever in this age of technology. Any mistakes are permanent and can-do irreconcilable damage to an individual’s image and career. Accessibility of everyone’s information is available online and holds potential concerns. While growing social media does stimulate personal growth in businesses or other aspects in an individual’s life, time is used in the process. Cautionary tales of individual mistakes are posted repeatedly for all to see, yet social media goes on.
To foster the knowledge of growing social media with technical communicators, studies are being done with knowledge workers use of social media. Understanding technical communication associated with social media is a new practice during this changing economy. The average organization employee uses social media for work to learn the latest information. New social media is emerging, and communication skills need to be taken along with the shift.
As social media information is being devoured by the masses daily, we need to be prepared to study and move with the communication aspect. Now I do not know what the best discipline of social media would be, nevertheless we must strive to be ahead of technical practices associated with the work social media produces. While consuming social media like any others we must be weary of the drawbacks of reading this type of writing. Never take in social media at an abundant rate or we lose the function of being able to effectively communicate especially if you are a student. We must be attentive to the good and bad aspects of social media.
To: Professor Ellis
From: Sandy Fougeres
Date: 12/8/2022
Subject: Weekly Readings
This week’s readings discussed how technical communicators use social media to complete their work. That technical communication has shifted into social media technical communication. It talked about how there was a study conducted to get a better understanding of the ways technical communicators utilize social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook etc. to create documents that otherwise wouldn’t necessarily need social media to complete. The article discussed the traditional roles of technical communicators which are to interview, write, and design opposed to social media, where these skills would still apply but there is a need for a collaborative effort and a combination of participant knowledge and ideas. The article described these social medias as PAOS and how freelancers are more likely to use them if they do not have access to enterprise sponsored resources. Due to social media always shifting and changing it was highlighted that technical communicators will need to monitor the new technologies to be able to use them in their work.
The take away I got from this article is that social media has become fully integrated within our society and that most industries will incorporate it whether working for a company or freelance. In the second article, it discussed the rhetoric that social media can have if not used properly and that as technical communicators work in their fields they will have to understand the cultural narratives that comes with using it. The article gave examples of people losing their livelihoods because of the power of the cultural narrative in social media, that some student technical communicators have concerns about using it.