College Composition and Communication Jun 2019

Redefining Writing for the Responsive Workplace

Claire Lauer ; Eva Brumberger

Abstract

In this article we argue that mobile, design, content, and social media technologies have fundamentally redefined the role of the writer in the workplace. Rather than the originator of content, the writer is becoming a sort of multimodal editor who revises, redesigns, remediates, and upcycles content into new forms, for new audiences, purposes, and media. This article discusses data gathered from over one hundred hours of embedded workplace research shadowing nine different professional communicators. The data demonstrate the iterative, detailed, product-focused types of work happening within a range of workplace constraints and, in turn, emphasize the need for writers and teachers of writing to recognize the importance of developing a broad skillset to prepare for this kind of work.

Journal
College Composition and Communication
Published
2019-06-01
DOI
10.58680/ccc201930182
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Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality social media
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (12)

  1. Mysore et al. (2026)
    Visualizing Heat Risk: Infographics, Memorability, and Design
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Lambrecht et al. (2026)
    Building narrative layers in virtual reality via multimodal user experience
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  3. Richter (2025)
    Designing Social Media Learning Environments to Promote Digital Literacy
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  4. Menagarishvili et al. (2024)
    Getting it Wrong: Student Estimations of Time and the Number of Drafts in Linke…
    IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  5. Richter (2024)
    Communicating Democracy: Opportunities for Election Knowledge Communication and…
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  1. Mussack et al. (2024)
    Collaboration as a Shared Value: Instructor and Student Perceptions of Collabor…
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  2. Mussack et al. (2024)
    Collaboration as a Shared Value: Instructor and Student Perceptions of Collabor…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  3. Whithaus et al. (2022)
    When Things Collide: Wayfinding in Professional Writers' Early Career Development
    Literacy in Composition Studies
  4. Sarraf (2022)
    Representations of Creativity by Posters in Freelance Writing Internet Forums
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Marotta (2021)
    Regulated and Nonregulated Writing: A Qualitative Study of University Custodian…
    Research in the Teaching of English
  6. Bahl (2021)
    Creating intelligent content with lightweight DITA: by Carlos Evia, New York, R…
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  7. Brumberger et al. (2020)
    A Day in the Life: Personas of Professional Communicators at Work
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication

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