Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Dec 2017

Confronting Negative Narratives: The Challenges of Teaching Professional Social Media Use

Sara West

Abstract

Because social media skills are increasingly viewed as essential for professionals, social media is incorporated frequently in business communication courses. When students are asked to consider professional uses of social media, however, they are often unwilling to critically engage these technologies. This article continues discussions of students’ reticence due largely to negative cultural narratives that label social media as unprofessional, or that link social media only with reputation management. Using student interviews and writing from a social media writing course, I discuss challenges posed by students’ adherence to these narratives and conclude with five suggestions for implementing social media successfully.

Journal
Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Published
2017-12-01
DOI
10.1177/2329490617723118
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Topics
social media

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (6)

  1. sharma (2025)
    Teaching Social Media Content Creation Through a Client-Based Project
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  2. Phan (2024)
    Conceptual Framework for Teaching Business Writing via Social Media
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  3. Sharma (2024)
    Teaching Professional Use of Social Networking Sites Through a Hypothetical Cas…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  4. Sharma (2022)
    Teaching Professional Use of Social Media Through a Service-Learning Business C…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  5. Joglekar et al. (2022)
    Developing Digital Communication Competency in the Business Classroom
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
Show all 6 →
  1. Cistulli et al. (2022)
    Student-Professor Social Media Relationships: An Exploratory Study of Privacy a…
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (8)

  1. Cohn (2016)
    “Devilish Smartphones” and the “Stone-Cold” Internet: Implications of the Techn…
    Computers and Composition
  2. Towner et al. (2016)
    Social Media in Business and Professional Communication Courses
    Business and Professional Communication Quarterly
  3. Shepherd (2015)
    FB in FYC: Facebook Use Among First-Year Composition Students
    Computers and Composition
  4. Blythe et al. (2014)
    Professional and Technical Communication in a Web 2.0 World
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Bowdon (2014)
    Tweeting an Ethos: Emergency Messaging, Social Media, and Teaching Technical Co…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 8 →
  1. Ferro et al. (2014)
    Technical Communication Unbound: Knowledge Work, Social Media, and Emergent Com…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Hurley et al. (2014)
    The Rhetoric of Reach: Preparing Students for Technical Communication in the Ag…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Moran (2003)
    Computers and Composition 1983–2002: What we have hoped for
    Computers and Composition
Also cites 11 works outside this index ↓
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CrossRef global citation count: 9 View in citation network →

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