Option #1: Case Study Analysis: Social Benefit or Social Disaster?

Read and respond to a case study to demonstrate your understanding of, and ability to apply, the most important concepts of the module, especially regarding the potential pitfalls of communication media.

Review the case study of Twitter in the 9th edition of the course textbook.

In an integrated essay, analyze the case from the perspective of a business organization, providing support for your analysis by replying to each of the following questions:

What are the advantages and drawbacks for organizations using social media to communicate with various employees, customers, or the global communities?

How do communication barriers surface when using social media versus using traditional media?

What specific steps should managers take to be sure they communicate effectively when using social media?

What, if any, rules or policies should business organizations implement for employees using social media after office hours? What types of rules or policies do you think would be necessary? Be as specific as possible.

What communication barriers might a manager encounter when using social media to create an organizational internship program? From your recent readings and experiences, what guidelines could you suggest for managers and organizations?

Your well-written paper should meet the following requirements:

3-4 pages in length in addition to the title page and reference page

Formatted according to the CSU-Global Guide to Writing and APA Requirements

Cite a minimum of two scholarly sources, at least one of which is not provided in, or linked from, the course. The CSU-Global Library is a great place to find scholarly sources!

Write clearly and logically, as you will be graded on content, analysis, and your adherence to the tenets of good academic writing, which should be succinct where possible while also exploring the topics appropriately. Remember that you can always improve your work by providing support from outside scholarly sources, which help both to bolster your own assertions and supplement your ideas.

Case Study: Tweets. Twittering. Prior to 2006, the only definition we would have known for these words would have involved birds and the sounds they make. Now, practically everyone knows that Twitter is also an online services with 500 million registered users, 400 million tweets daily, and 1.6 billion daily search queries-used to trade short messages of 140 characters or less via the Web, cell phones, and other devises. According to its founders (Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams). Twitter is many things: a messaging service, a customer service tool to reach customers, real-time search, and microblogging. And as the members show, it's become quite popular!

One place where Twitter has caught on is the sports world, especially in college sports. For instance, Les Miles, head football coach at Louisiana State University calls himself "a Twittering kind of guy." He understands the power of instant communication. Miles wants to stay ahead of the competition, especially when it comes to recruiting and keeping fans informs, He's discovered that Twittering is an easy and fun way to communicate quick tidbits of information to fans, alumni boosters, and other interested people who subscribe. And it's a convenient way for football recruiting prospects to communicate with the coaching staff. One game days, he Twitters (via a staff assistant) before games, at halftime, and after games. If it's okay for coaches to tweet, what about the student athletes? That's often a different story?

Many universities and college coaches are monitoring and , in some cases, banning athletes'' use of social media. A potentially precarious issue can arise if an athlete tweets some comment that could put the university in a negative light, offend boosters, or possibly violate an NCAA regulation. Here are a couple of tweeting slip-ups: A Western Kentucky running back was suspended after he tweeted critical comments about the team's fans: the NCAA pulls 15 football scholarships after an investigation based on plyer's tweet; and a Lehigh University wide receiver was suspended for re-tweeting back-fired at the London Olympics. The first "casualty"-a Greek triple jumper-was banned from the Games over some racially charged tweets. That seems to be good reason for the managers (i.e., coaches and administrators) of these programs to attempt to control the information flow. But is banning the answer? Some analysts say no. They argue that those setting up rules and regulations don't understand what social media is all about and the value it provides as a marketing and recruiting tool, and they argue that it's necessary t understand the First Amendment rights ( part of which includes freedom of speech). Rather than banning the use of social media, many universities are hiring companies to monitor athletes' posts. This, however, requires athletes to give access to their accounts, which some call an invasion of privacy.