The Impact of Technology on Corporate Communications

Nationally, the newspaper industry is in a state of collapse. Many newspapers have either been forced into bankruptcy or have become extinct. Even the New York Times has been forced to seek outside investors to stay afloat. The major reason why the industry is crumbling is the internet. Since more people get their news from computers, newspaper circulation and ad revenues are shrinking and readership dwindling. With the adoption of the internet, we have seen a shift in budding forms of communication (journalism) from print to online. Another transformation that took place is that people wanted a voice so communication (including journalism) moved from monologue to dialogue. Traditionally, journalism was a one-way form of communication. In stark contrast, social media is about dialogue, audience, and citizen journalism.

Social media is created and distributed by the audience and represents the channels of communication that the audience uses to write, create, and share information. Today, the explosion of digital solutions provides communicators with a new arsenal of tools. These tools can take the form of blogs, social networking, visual communication, and podcasts. Since organizations use different types of media to reach their audience, knowing how to select the right medium for your message and how to create different forms of communication is integral in today’s corporate landscape. Today’s communicators need to learn the foundational digital skills in order to stay competitive. These new skill sets include but are not limited to using RSS feeds, search engine optimization, video production, and analyzing/monitoring metrics. Although digital media is important, companies should not solely concentrate on electronic communications at the expense of print or face-to-face communication. Each has a role and should be used accordingly.

While technology has made business communication easier and faster, at times communication is more distracting because of message overload. From constant emails to cell phones, instant communication can make it hard to focus on meeting deadlines so at times you need to turn off communication devices.