Journal of Business and Technical Communication Oct 2011

Epinions Advisors as Technical Editors: Using Politeness Across Levels of Edit

Jo Mackiewicz Auburn University

Abstract

This study examines how, in the realm of social media, Epinions Advisors voluntarily perform a role similar to that of a technical editor. Specifically, the study examines Advisors' use of politeness strategies at various levels of edit in order to motivate product reviewers to improve their work. The study categorizes Advisors' comments about 60 product reviews according to levels of edit in order to determine how Advisors address editing as they attempt to fulfill the concerns of technical editors: advocating for readers and mentoring writers. Updated reviews and Advisor–reviewer discussions suggest that Advisors motivated reviewers to edit.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2011-10-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651911411038
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
social media
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (7)

  1. Swarts (2020)
    Technical Communication is a Social Medium
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Kimball (2017)
    The Golden Age of Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Frith (2017)
    Forum design and the changing landscape of crowd-sourced help information
    Communication Design Quarterly
  4. Kimball (2017)
    Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Pflugfelder (2017)
    Reddit’s “Explain Like I’m Five”: Technical Descriptions in the Wild
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 7 →
  1. Mackiewicz et al. (2016)
    The Impact of Review Environment on Review Credibility
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  2. Mackiewicz (2014)
    Motivating Quality: The Impact of Amateur Editors’ Suggestions on User-Generate…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

References (40) · 6 in this index

  1. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198245537.001.0001
     ↗
  2. Becher T. (1989)
    Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual enquiry and the cultures of disciplines
  3. 10.1017/CBO9780511813085
     ↗
  4. Buehler M. F. (2003)
    Technical Communication
  5. Category lead, top reviewer and advisor FAQ . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.epinion…
Show all 40 →
  1. 10.2753/JEC1086-4415130402
     ↗
  2. 10.1509/jmkr.43.3.345
     ↗
  3. Corbin M. (2002)
    Technical Communication
  4. Eaton A. (2008)
    Technical Communication
  5. 10.3233/IP-2002-0002
     ↗
  6. Grove (1994)
    When the basics aren't enough: finding a comprehensive editor
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  7. Harrison T. (1995)
    Library Trends
  8. 10.1002/dir.10073
     ↗
  9. 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.08.011
     ↗
  10. Hovland C. (1953)
    Communication and persuasion
  11. 10.1007/s10799-008-0041-2
     ↗
  12. 10.1016/S1060-3743(01)00038-8
     ↗
  13. Kollock P. (1999)
    Communities in cyberspace
  14. 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00332.x
     ↗
  15. 10.1145/1386790.1386838
     ↗
  16. Locker (1999)
    Factors in Reader Responses to Negative Letters: Experimental Evidence for Chan…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Mackiewicz (2005)
    Hinting at What They Mean: Indirect Suggestions in Writing Tutors' Interactions…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  18. Mackiewicz (2006)
    The Functions of Formulaic and Nonformulaic Compliments in Interactions About T…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  19. Mackiewicz (2010)
    Assertions of Expertise in Online Product Reviews
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  20. Mackiewicz (2010)
    The Co-construction of Credibility in Online Product Reviews
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  21. Mackiewicz J. (2003)
    Technical Communication
  22. Manno G. (1995)
    Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata
  23. 10.1080/1356215980030305
     ↗
  24. 10.1080/00913367.1990.10673191
     ↗
  25. 10.1007/978-3-642-13446-3_16
     ↗
  26. Rating reviews on Epinions.com . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www1.epinions.com/help/f…
  27. Rude C. (2006)
    Technical editing
  28. Sacks H. (1973)
    Paper presented at the Summer Institute of Linguistics
  29. Samson D. C. (1993)
    Editing technical writing
  30. Shopaholic_man. (2009, March 08). Reviews with poor grammar and spelling [Online forum comment]. Retrieved fr…
  31. Tarutz J. A. (1992)
    Technical editing: A practical guide for editors and writers
  32. Ury W. (1991)
    Getting past no
  33. Van Buren R. (1980)
    The levels of edit
  34. 10.2307/25148667
     ↗
  35. 10.3727/109830508788403114
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 10 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Computers and Composition Jun 2026
    Navigating platform algorithms: Global south feminist activists’ rhetorical and composition practices in digital advocacy on social media ↗
    Kalpana Shrestha
    rhetorical criticism social media gender and writing
  2. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Apr 2026
    Selections From the ABC 2025 Annual International Conference, Long Beach, California, USA: Classroom Activities for Teaching Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Media Skills in the Business Communication Classroom ↗
    Andrew Cavanaugh; D. Joel Whalen
    teacher development professional writing social media artificial intelligence
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    An Acceptance Analysis of Firms’ Posts on Sina Weibo to Build Credibility ↗
    Chenghui Wu
    social media
  4. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Apr 2026
    From Monologue to Dialogue: Communication Strategies of Chinese Museums on Weibo and the Imperative for Participation Awareness ↗
    Xiaole Zhu; Yoonjae Nam
    service learning qualitative research social media
  5. Journal of Business and Technical Communication Mar 2026
    Terms of Service and Community Guidelines as “Value-Laden” Documents: An (Adapted) Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of “Sexual Content” ↗
    Rachael Jordan
    discourse analysis social media affect and writing