Digital Rebuttals Gaining Traction
What do George Clooney and Walmart have in common? (Hint: The answer is not shopping!) Both the celebrity and the mega-conglomerate have taken to the virtual world to get back at the media.
Clooney wrote a harsh rebuttal in usatoday.com lambasting the UK’s Daily Mail for publishing incorrect information about his future mother-in-law. Walmart’s VP of Corporate Communication used the company’s website to post a satirical send-up of a New York Times column criticizing the stores.
Such digital rebuttals provide people or corporations who feel they have been wronged to go beyond a traditional response in a letter to the editor, press release, or TV appearance. Digital rebuttals are immediate and use the media and social media as their platform. This allows the author’s message to be seen in the context of an online community rather than a more formal, staged arena and appeals to younger audiences.
Business Students Wanted!
Corporate hiring managers want business and engineering students, not liberal arts majors, according to a survey. The poll found that 27% of companies seek engineering students; 18% prefer business majors. Human resource managers cite communication skills as a primary trait they seek in all new hires, despite their area of focus in college.
College Classroom E-Etiquette
Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Rochester Institute of Technology professor Evan Selinger offered new students some tips about e-etiquette in college you may want to share with your new classes.
Use of computers, phones, and tablets in class. Since professor preferences vary on what is allowable in class, students should play it safe, Selinger advises. Students may find themselves the butt of an uncomfortable “outing” if found shopping online during class or playing videogames in a lab. Ultimately, he says, students must ask themselves if they want to be wasting the high cost of tuition to monitor their Facebook pages instead of listening and participating in class.
E-mail. Selinger notes that many professors play loosey goosey with e-mail etiquette, not minding quick questions and informal communiqués. On the other hand, some instructors may be insulted unless students adhere to more formal standards. No professor, Selinger points out, will appreciate silly personal e-mail addresses or unsigned messages.
The bottom line: Students should learn what type of behavior each professor expects before assuming free or casual use of devices is appropriate. Responding nimbly to higher-ups’ preferences will serve students well in the workplace after they graduate.
