E-communications: an introduction

Technology has had a profound effect on both the workplace and communication. Electronic communication has been well-established as a mainstay of today’s workforce.  However, this generation is seeing virtual communication become the default interaction method.   While we may lament the loss of formal communication skills, such as hand-written notes, we must realize that a certain population has an immediate gratification attitude towards interpersonal relations.  Before text messaging, there remained a cautionary principle of “think twice before sending” to prevent hasty reactions.  With this current always-connected existence, the new generation of professionals may have little concept of boundaries or communication prudence.  Further, critical non-verbal cues that people learn through in-person interaction may be overlooked in this era of electronic communication.  We have started seeing issues of e-communication infringe upon the workplace.  There have been lawsuits on privacy expectations of e-mail and texting, harassment via electronics quaintly termed “textual harassment,” and corporate policies on social media.  Employees are frequently expected to be available electronically outside traditional work hours and in some cases, to use personal devices for business purposes.  It is critical to understand these issues when considering personnel policies, disciplinary issues, risk management, and corporate strategy regarding communication both internally and externally.


Prevalence of electronic communications
Electronic communication devices and means have become ubiquitous in American life. 83% of American adults own some kind of cell phone, indicating slightly over 100 million people in the U.S. over the age of 18 people have cell phones.  More than half of the respondents indicated that their cell phones were useful for accessing information quickly, to the extent that when not available, 27% said they were unable to accomplish some task.  42% use cell phones to relieve boredom and 13% pretend to use cell phones in order to avoid some social interaction. Almost a third of us have turned off our cell phones just to take a break from them.  Over ten billion videos were streamed in the U.S. in one month last year (Nielson Wire 2010).  This is a staggering statistic when one considers that the world population just reached seven billion (U.S. Census Bureau). A recent study by the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda in 2010 showed that American college students are addicted to the internet, cell phones, social media and show symptoms similar to drug and alcohol withdrawal when asked to “unplug” for 24 hours.

Social Media has a penetration rate of 98% in young adults, with only a 7% less rate among Americans in general (Experian 2011).  129 million Americans use social media in some capacity each month, with 20% using mobile technology, i.e. cell phone, to access their social media sites (Experian 2011).  Increasing social media use equates to an increase in email usage.  Additionally, studies show that most videos watched online are between 12 pm and 2 pm, during a typical workday.  Nielson reports that in September, 2011, 164 million individuals spent an average of five hours watching 18 billion videos in the U.S. alone.  This was a significant increase from the 10 billion videos streamed in June, 2010, indicating the growth rate and prevalence of online media use.  60% of Americans with smartphones and/or tablet PCs checked email while watching television at home.  This last figure speaks to the potential of performing work duties on private time.