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The Internet and electronic communications (also called computer mediated
communications, or CMC) doesn't just mean new tools for communication; it
means new ways to communicate. Today your organization interacts with its
various constituents differently - employees, board members, customers,
partners and others - depending upon the nature of the message, the goals
you are trying to achieve and the strengths (and weaknesses) of the
available media - telephones, voice mail, fax machines, print, etc.
Electronic communications adds a powerful new channel that not only
will change how you use this mix of options, but it will create entirely
new ways to interact. For example:
- Electronic communications lets you combine numerous media - text,
graphics sound, video, etc. - into a single message. That can result in
far more meaningful communications tailored to the nature of your
particular audience. In contrast to broadcasting, narrowcasting
reflects the ability to develop numerous communications for subsets
of your market or constituencies.
- Electronic communications is interactive. It engages audiences in
active, two-way communications. That requires a new way of thinking
about advertising copy and the handling of public relations. The
pay-off, however, is a self-selected audience, engaged and actively
participating in the communications process.
- Two-way communication is nothing new. But electronic communications
creates a new form of many-to-many communications that lets
geographically distributed groups communicate interactively and
simultaneously through text, sound and video. You can hold
inexpensive video conferences or press conferences from your desk,
or conference with people at several desks located across the world.
One of the burgeoning phenomena of the Internet is businesses and
organizations sponsoring, supporting and moderating discussion groups
about issues, products, strategies - anything of interest to the
organization and its constituents. Sponsorships are also solicited
for popular resources, such as indexes and other Internet search
tools, and these provide a further communications and marketing
opportunity.
- Many organizations are using electronic communications facilities,
such as the World Wide Web, as internal communications tools to
enhance team work. Many individuals at different locations can work
on the same documents, hold meetings and integrate research findings.
- Electronic communications removes the power of communications
gatekeepers to both positive and negative effects. Most
organizations are used to controlling the messages that go out to
its constituents through managers, spokespeople and others. But with
the Internet, constituents begin to talk among themselves,
requiring new approaches and a new emphasis on listening and
reacting, not just talking.
- With the Internet you have the ability to transmit and receive
large amounts of information quickly to and from individuals and
workgroups around the world. This changes the way activists, for
example, can galvanize communities, inform legislators and change
public opinion. It changes the sources and depth of your
constituents' knowledge levels. It also lets those constituents
reach you with new kinds of communications they may never have
attempted before.
And these are only some of the changes we are seeing now. There will be
unanticipated and ripple effects we can't imagine. For example, will
electronic mail become a buffer to avoid communications or confrontations
that might be better resolved in person? Will managers find themselves
traveling more in order to gain the personal touch with members of
distributed workgroups? How will organizations prepare themselves for this
increased level of participatory constituent interaction?
General Information
For general white papers and journals about electronic communications,
visit the following resources:
Electronic Mail
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