Purpose

The Internet has changed the way the businesses operate and, as a result, more and more people are finding it more convenient to do business online rather then in person. But to the unfamiliar, online collaboration for business can be tricky to say the very least. My class, English 312: Writing for business, is not much different. In this class, we will take part in what is called a “service-learning project, “ Which will prove to be a great opportunity to get acquainted with online communication etiquette. One that I am sure will come in handy further along in my academic career.

For our service-learning project, as we call it, we are required to analyze the social media presence of a successful reality company here in Wilmington NC. We will analyze what the company is doing on different social media platforms and explain what can be improved based on research as well as our own knowledge of rhetorical theory. For this project we will work in groups, and because our class is entirely online, we will have to collaborate mostly online. Face-to-face meetings are optional. It will be a challenge, but one I am prepared for.

Collaborating within a team is difficult enough, and doing so online can be a whole different ballgame. Combine the usual group issues with the often-sporatic nature of online communication as well as individual time constraints and it’s easy to see how online communication could become very messy. If we can move past online communication issues, we shouldn’t have any problems doing a bang-up job on this analysis. From the little communication we have had with each other, both of my group mates seem to be very intelligent and insightful people. It really is just a problem of scheduling and timely responses.  

Fortunately, I myself have had some experience collaborating in groups such as these. In my last professional writing class, English 204, we had to complete a lot of work in groups outside of the class. To accompany this we mainly used Google drive to communicate via the comment section on our various writing assignments. Hopefully this experience will lessen the awkwardness of online communication.

That’s not to say we won’t have challenges from the actual project itself. I know from the analysis I’ve done so far that sticking to my usual cookie-cutter method of analysis won’t cut it for this assignment. Nest realty, the company we are doing the project for, already has a fairly successful online presence. This time instead of building a presence from the start we have to help an already successful business without hurting the progress they’ve already made. This brings up two problems. First, we have to make sure, beyond a reasonable doubt, that any solutions we find are truly solutions and will not damage their appeal. Second, we have to really dig into the specifics of rhetorical research in order to find anything of true benefit to Nest Realty. I have no doubt that if my group can do both of these things we will craft a report that will change the way Nest looks at social media, and my own personal knowledge of rhetorical theory and audience analysis will grow leaps and bounds.