essay on online communication

Online Communication: Advantages and Disadvantages Essay

Making life accessible, distributing knowledge, disadvantages of online communication, works cited.

Another argument in favor of online communication is that this phenomenon makes life more accessible for individuals, which allows them to utilize many benefits of everyday life. According to an article by Uhls et al., a significant number of adolescents deal with online communication because it allows for “sharing information, interacting with peers, and developing a coherent identity” (S67). This information demonstrates that technology provides individuals with an opportunity to be fully-fledged society members without the necessity to leave their homes. This state of affairs is in line with the world trend toward digitalization and globalization, denoting that more people’s activities go online. Thus, if an individual faces difficulties leaving their home, it does not mean that everyday services and opportunities are not accessible for them.

Furthermore, online communication makes life more accessible because it can help people learn and develop. In particular, various online courses are requested today since people enjoy learning at loose hours. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this activity even more requested since individuals had more spare time. As a result, a scholarly article by Wong et al. demonstrates that online communication is helpful since it made healthcare education possible against the COVID-19 background since it helped “disseminate consensus and expert opinion” (256). The scientists reveal that the phenomenon under consideration is beneficial because it is “a common channel for healthcare professionals, patients, and the public to communicate regarding health issues” (Wong et al. 259). Consequently, online communication makes life more accessible because technology allows people to become more educated.

One can also mention that online communication implies some economic benefits that make life more accessible. When it comes to digital technologies, people only need to pay Internet fees to have access to this service. Approximately $60 is an average monthly payment in the United States for using the Internet. Since the health crisis has contributed to the increased use of online communication, it is reasonable to identify what financial expenses are associated with this situation. According to Owl Labs, people “are saving almost $500 per month” by working from home (2). This finding demonstrates that digital technologies result in the fact that people have more economic resources to access various services and resources.

It is also worth admitting that online communication is helpful because it contributes to the fact that ordinary people have access to information that they did not previously know. This positive outcome is possible because technology results in the fact that more and more research findings are published online. For example, the early 21 st century marked the “growth in open access publishing” (Pradhan and van Teijlingen 43). This strategy resulted in the fact that average individuals obtained an opportunity to get acquainted with the most recent scientific findings without enormous effort. To access new knowledge, people only needed to find interesting research article online and read it. Today, the situation is not much different because it is possible to find many open access journals that disseminate high-quality research findings.

In addition to that, online communication has also participated in enriching the research field. This statement refers to the fact that digital technology made it easier for scientists to generate research data since this phenomenon made “research more responsive to the wishes of the scientist” (Mirowski 193). Scholars can create, edit, and send their research articles for publication sitting in front of their computers. There is no doubt that this fact leads to a higher number of scientific papers being published. Consequently, ordinary citizens again receive better access to unique and scientific findings.

It is also worth admitting that a higher volume of research data is the case for various knowledge areas. For example, it is possible to find medical, engineering, marketing, management, social sciences, and other journals that offer relevant, timely, and open access studies. Google Scholar is a helpful and free tool that interested individuals can use to find scientific data about various topics. This instrument offers scholarly articles from multiple journals and databases, meaning that people can easily find the required answers. That is why one can conclude that online communication has contributed to the fact that science occupies a more significant role in modern life. It is challenging to deny that this fact is positive because more straightforward access to published scholarly materials denotes that individuals become more educated, which leads to benefits for the entire society.

Irrespective of the information above, it is impossible to ignore the fact that online communication can imply some drawbacks. The possible disadvantages include the “lack of security, Internet addiction, information overload, and loss of social contacts” (Drahošová and Balco 1009). Even though these phenomena are negative, it is possible to state that their effects can be mitigated. On the one hand, adequate education on how to behave in the online environment can be an effective intervention to manage security, information overload, addiction threats. Users, especially novice ones, should understand what threats are possible and how to minimize them. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that online communication can help preserve social contacts when it is impossible to meet personally because social media allowed for “interacting with peers” (Uhls et al. S67). That is why it is necessary to mention that logical reasoning and scientific findings allow for refuting the counterarguments that emphasize the possible disadvantages of online communication.

Drahošová, Martina, and Peter Balco. “The Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages of Use of Social Media in European Union.” Procedia Computer Science, vol. 109C, pp. 1005-1009.

Mirowski, Philip. “The Future(s) of Open Science.” Social Studies of Science, vol. 48, no. 2, 2018, pp. 171-203.

Owl Labs. “State of Remote Work.” 2020, Web.

Pradhan, Arun, K., and Edwin R. van Teijlingen. “Predatory Publishing: A Great Concern for Authors.” Medical Science, vol. 5, no. 4, 2017, p. 43.

Uhls, Yalda T., et al. “Benefits and Costs of Social Media in Adolescence.” Pediatrics , vol. 140, no. s2, 2017, pp. S67-S70.

Wong, Adrian, et al. “The Use of Social Media and Online Communications in Times of Pandemic COVID-19.” Journal of the Intensive Care Society, vol. 22, no. 3, 2021, pp. 255-260.

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Online Communication

Eliot Michaelson, Jessica Pepp, and Rachel Sterken consider the implications of amplificatory speech in online communication.

It’s hard to deny that the digital age, and especially the smartphone revolution, has changed the way we communicate. Written messages, once ponderously slow, now travel virtually instantaneously to even one’s most distant acquaintances. With text and email exchanges taking place at roughly the same speed as verbal ones, written communication has become much more casual. This is no surprise – after all, if you can correct a misinterpretation almost as soon as it happens, why spend hours, minutes, or even seconds agonizing over the clearest way of putting what you are trying to say? Just say something and see if it works.

The shift to online communication has also brought with it a variety of new tools: hashtags, hyperlinks, and a standardized range of emojis and emoticons, of both the ASCII variety (“;)” or “¯\_(ツ)_/¯”) and the newer, more stylized kind (“😉” or “🤷🏿”). Linguistic analysis suggests that the latter kind have more standardized meanings than an individualized smiley face once might have, and have also given rise to morphological effects like duplication (“👍👍”).

It is far less clear, however, whether the shift to online communication has given rise to any fundamentally new forms of speech. Are there things we can do with our words – “speech acts,” in philosophical parlance – in the online world that we can’t do offline? We’re not certain whether the shift to online speech has given rise to any completely new types of speech acts, but we do want to draw attention to a type of speech act that has at least become much more pervasive because of online speech, especially on social media platforms. This is the speech act of amplification. Amplification has taken on a structural significance in online speech that is totally unprecedented in earlier, offline speech. Understanding the structure of online speech, therefore, requires understanding the nature of amplification.

Here’s one example of what we mean by amplification: Smith, who is rather shy, makes an excellent point in the course of a philosophy seminar. But they make the point too quietly for it to be heard by anyone but Jones, who is sitting right next to them. Taking care to make clear that they are merely repeating Smith’s idea, Jones restates what Smith said at a volume that others can hear. Commands and other exercises of authority can be amplified as well as suggestions and assertions. For example, suppose Diaz is trying to call a meeting to order, but cannot be heard over the boisterous conversation of the various participants. Martín intervenes by repeating Diaz’s calls to order, but at a much higher volume – effectively cutting through the cacophony.

It’s important not to conflate amplification with a nearby phenomenon which we might call “appropriation”: repeating a point that has been made by someone else, but which has been dismissed or ignored when coming from their mouth because they have either been interpreted uncharitably or presumed not to be credible (all too often because of their race, gender, ethnicity, non-conforming features, etc.). In cases of amplification, in contrast to cases of appropriation, the amplifier takes reasonable steps to see to it that the original speaker retains credit for their contribution to the conversation.

As the examples we just gave show, amplification is possible in ordinary face-to-face conversations. But it isn’t very common (it may be more common than we have made it out to be, depending on how we think about, for instance, quotation – but we will set that tricky issue to the side). Indeed, amplification in ordinary speech is uncommon enough that nothing like it is mentioned in any of the standard taxonomies of speech acts (such as those found in J.L. Austin’s seminal 1962 book, How to Do Things with Words, in John Searle’s 1969 book, Speech Acts, or Kent Bach and Robert Harnish’s 1979 book, Linguistic Communication and Speech Acts). In online speech though, amplification is an extremely important thing that we do with our words.

Consider “liking” on Facebook: in liking some content, one may well be expressing agreement or some other positive attitude towards it. But, inevitably, one is also interacting with Facebook’s ranking algorithm by means of this act. That algorithm tends to rank posts higher when they have received greater levels of engagement, in the form of likes, shares, or comments – particularly, shares by your “friends” and their “friends”. This means that, within the communicative system set up by Facebook, liking inevitably involves an element of amplification, even if it often involves more than that as well. Part of what it is to like a post is to make it more likely that your “friends” see the post, and for that post to become an acknowledged part of the conversation between you.

Retweeting is another type of online speech act that seems to be largely an amplificatory act. Whatever else one might manage to express via a retweet (approval, endorsement mockery, scorn, etc.), retweeting a tweet has the effect of ranking it higher both in general and, in particular, amongst one’s followers.

And because of how the retweet function and similar functions are designed, there isn’t much risk of people using them to appropriate rather than amplify. Unlike offline means of amplification, online amplification via retweeting on Twitter or sharing on Facebook is designed to automatically credit the content to its original creator, as a share or retweet preserves something like a copy of the original post along with its metadata.

At this point, you might have the following worry: given that, as best anyone can tell, ranking algorithms don’t just take account of likes and retweets, but also screen time engagement, don’t we risk having to say that merely watching a cute cat video, or watching it several times over, amounts to engaging in the speech act of amplification? Intuitively, that seems a strange thing to say; after all, we don’t typically think of reading or viewing or similar passive activities as speech acts, though undoubtedly these are acts which (often) involve language.

The reason why these passive consumption activities are not speech acts of amplification is that these activities do not have a characteristic aim of amplifying the content consumed. That’s not to say that no one could ever watch a video with the express aim of making it more visible to others. But this aim is not characteristic of the act of watching a video. And speech acts are at least partly defined by their characteristic aims: an assertion is an act whose characteristic aim is to inform someone, a command is an act whose characteristic aim is to direct someone's actions, and so on. Again, that's not to say that acts of these types always have these aims. Likewise, retweeting might not always be aimed at amplifying the original post. But amplification might well be the characteristic aim of retweeting and other forms of resharing.

Now let’s consider a different sort of worry. We’ve allowed that amplification is not usually all that people want to achieve with a like or retweet. So why count likes and retweets as amplificatory speech acts as opposed to just acknowledging that they have amplificatory side-effects? We can break this worry down into two parts. First, there is the question of whether liking or retweeting are speech acts at all. Second, there is the question of whether they are specifically amplificatory speech acts.

Starting with the first question, consider that liking and bare retweeting (that is, retweeting without any comment) might at first appear to be mere button pushing. After all, these acts typically amount to little more than pressing a small icon on one’s phone. So why think of these as speech acts, which one might reasonably expect to involve the production of language?

The way we see it is that different social media platforms have set up different structural contexts, different systems, within which speech can take place. Twitter limits the length of your posts, Instagram didn’t initially support hashtags, and so on. These contexts and systems build on those in which face-to-face conversation has always taken place, but they also add new means of interaction. One of the basic ways in which social media platforms allow their users to interact with others’ posts is via liking and retweeting or sharing. Importantly, these aren’t private ways of interacting with others’ posts. Rather, this behavior will, at the very least, be evident to one’s “friends” or “followers”. And it will be evident in terms of its effect on raw numbers to anyone on the platform. So liking and retweeting appear to be outward, other-directed ways of interacting with the speech of others.

Earlier we mentioned the characteristic aims of speech acts, and it’s worth asking what the characteristic aims of liking and retweeting are. In the case of liking something on Facebook or Twitter, it’s probably not amplification, but something more like serving to express a positive attitude (agreement, acceptance, amusement, etc.) towards the relevant content. But this is enough to make it a bona fide speech act, and amplification is a predictable, if often unintended, secondary effect of that act.

Bare retweeting, on the other hand, is a much better candidate for being a primarily amplificatory speech act. We have to be a little careful in how we make this suggestion, because ultimately we think that bare retweeting is too basic an act to have a characteristic aim. (We have written about this in a not-yet-published paper called “On Retweeting.”) Like uttering a sentence, retweeting a tweet can be used to do a wide range of things in different sorts of contexts, such as endorsing, condemning, mocking, informing, exhorting, and much more. To retweet is to make use of a bit of communicative structure that has many uses, in much the same way as to utter a declarative sentence of English is to make use of a bit of linguistic structure which can be used not only to assert things, but also to make requests, give commands, offer permission or advice, make pronouncements, and even ask questions.

That said, we are also inclined to think that a great many bare retweets are used to perform amplificatory speech acts. Consider the controversy over whether a retweet constitutes an endorsement: this is clearly a widespread view, as you can tell by the number of people who take the time to reject it in their Twitter bios. We think this view is wrong for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it simply fails to match up with the experience of bare retweeting. In our own experience at least, we often retweet and share items precisely because we find them of interest in one way or another and we simply wish to bring them to our friends’ and acquaintances’ attention. This sort of intention squares nicely with the view that these retweets are amplificatory speech acts. It would also go some way towards explaining why so many have been tempted to view retweeting as a form of endorsement: it is a natural enough assumption that the posts we hope to amplify are the very same ones that we endorse. But, in fact, we can aim to amplify posts which lack the right sort of content to endorse, as with questions or pictures, or which we have no interest in endorsing but merely find interesting, offensive, entertaining, and so on.

To summarize the argument so far: we began with the question of whether online speech environments have given rise to fundamentally new forms of speech, or speech acts. Rather than arguing directly for the “yes” answer, we instead chose to focus on a sort of speech act, amplification, which exists in offline conversations but is rare enough to have received virtually no attention in earlier philosophical investigations. Amplificatory speech, we then suggested, plays a prominent role in our contemporary online speech environments. This comes both in the form of direct amplificatory speech acts, such as a great deal of bare retweeting and sharing, and as at least a secondary effect of commented retweeting, commenting on a post, liking, and reacting.

In fact, we take the pervasiveness of amplification to be one of the most significant differences between online and offline speech: whereas offline, reacting to a given bit of speech might well serve to make that speech more prominent in the memory of those present, such reactions don’t directly increase the likelihood of others encountering the relevant bits of speech (except perhaps as a side-effect of mnemonic prominence). In online speech environments, the more that we interact with a given bit of speech, the more likely others are to come across it. So amplification has, effectively, gone from a vanishingly rare speech act and relatively weak secondary effect of other speech acts to a common type of speech act and a near universal, strong secondary effect.

What are the upshots of this shift? While we lack the space to delve too deeply into this question, we’ll mention one rather important upshot. The inevitability of amplification in the current structure of online speech makes it harder to determine the best response to problematic speech. As Robert Mark Simpson and Amia Srinivasan point out in their 2018 paper, “No Platforming,” it has probably always been too simplistic to think that the best way to confront problematic speech is with more speech, since this ignores the social significance of treating certain positions as positions to be taken seriously at all. But this approach becomes even more suspect in online speech environments. For unlike in a face-to-face conversation or even newspaper editorial, when one comments on or responds to a tweet or Facebook post, one also inevitably amplifies that original post, making it more likely that others will see it. This is an inevitable side-effect of the way that our social media ranking algorithms currently function. One question we ought to consider, then, is whether this is a desirable way for such algorithms to function. Another question is how we, as individuals, ought to respond to the recognition of this situation. We’re pessimistic about the prospects of offering a general theory of when and how individuals ought to respond to online hate speech and disinformation, for instance. But we can confidently say that when responding to such speech on- as opposed to off-line, there is another salient factor to consider: no matter how compelling your response might be, under present conditions, it will inevitably serve to amplify the very speech that you are responding to.

Eliot Michaelson, Jessica Pepp, and Rachel Sterken are currently collaborating on two related research projects, funded by the Norwegian Research Council and the Swedish Research council, focused on applying philosophy of language to, and drawing lessons for philosophy of language from, internet-based linguistic phenomena.

Eliot Michaelson is a senior lecturer in philosophy at King's College London and honorary associate professor of linguistics at University College London. Jessica Pepp is a Burman Fellow and researcher in theoretical philosophy at Uppsala University (Sweden), researcher at the University of Oslo (Norway) and docent at the University of Turku (Finland). Rachel Sterken is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Hong Kong.

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The benefits of online communication

Staying at home has been onerous for many, and we’re all starting to miss the once ostensibly small but now perceivably luxurious activities that would assumedly come with the return home for the vac. There are many parts of the pre-COVID-19 world for which we all feel saudade; activities as futile as a stroll around the grey and rainy block are sunlit in our memories (which feel much more distant than a mere month ago), but for many of us the most felt loss is social interaction.

Undoubtedly, social distancing is the right thing to do, and it never hurts to remember that there is an endpoint to this weird time. Before we know it, this era of stockpiling toilet paper and singing out of the window will be a surreal memory. But for now, we have something valuable that they did not have during the 1918 influenza pandemic: countless forms of online communication.

At university, social interaction is a thing that often just happens , regardless of whether you try. Grabbing a drink after a morning class or lying on a friend’s floor for five minutes, or an hour, or – whoops – three hours; although rarely planned, these are some of my best memories from Hilary term. But, alas, they were always at the expense of work I really should have been doing instead.

But we all now possess something that, as Oxford students, we thought we had signed away the rights to for a good three (or more) years.

Looking back at the last two terms, a recurring problem was the way a heavy workload – or, often, a regretted albeit smart decision to get an early night – gets in the way of a thriving social life I’d ideally be living.

But we all now possess something that, as Oxford students, we thought we had signed away the rights to for a good three (or more) years. Free time. Time to hate watch all five of the twilight movies, time to impersonate and idolise Mary Berry, or, perhaps, time to embrace this rare opportunity to pause for thought, to appreciate those who matter and to make a concerted effort with these people. The people who, when what now feels like an apocalypse in fact comes to an endpoint, will be the first people you buy a train ticket and make the journey for.

Consider the moments that happened organically in college – being invited for a cup of tea by someone in your building – and orchestrate them online. We have the tools at our disposal, so use them! Have a Skype call where everyone drinks a cup of tea and catches up on their (admittedly slightly vacant) day. If you can do a social activity in person, you can do a variation of that activity online.

Without having to worry about commuting to another part of the UK, or even another country, more of the time invested in a social interaction can actually include that interaction. In just one day, and without ever leaving my room or spending a penny, I can watch a failed attempt at a home hair dye job over messenger video call, lose several games of Risk over Steam, and start a new series on Netflix party.

A six-week vac cannot allow for an IRL meeting with every person you would ideally see, but a single hour on zoom can easily reunite us all: New Jersey, Poland and Chorley all on one screen. Plus, there is no real-world alternative for setting your Zoom background to the most spiteful photo of your friend that you can find.

Perhaps even try the old but not yet forgotten art of a phone call. Remarkably, despite the seemingly endless and misspent void in isolation, it is always possible to fill hours over the phone with minimal awkward silences.

a unique opportunity to do something creative

These modern age advantages aren’t limited to self-made friendships. How often is the whole extended family free and in the same place at once? Some years, this only happens at Christmas, but in 2020 we can make it a weekly event: Tuesday afternoon at five, block it in your calendar grandma, a family Skype call (–it’s the little blue icon with an S on it… no, no, the one on your home screen! Yes. The. Blue. One.)

Even for long distance relationships, a status many have unexpectedly found themselves flung into, hope is far from lost. It may not be ideal, but it’s also a unique opportunity to do something creative and put in effort, just as with friendships. Make each other a pub quiz based on their hobbies, or come together to think of a less cringe inducing idea than the hundreds of horrific ideas on the internet.

Now we know how easy it is, maybe we will continue these online habits in to the future – a social reality particularly beneficial to international students now just as included in catch-ups and meet-ups as UK students, and to university-based couples regularly faced with separation for a potential six week period.

So, play heads up over Houseparty, steal each other’s cards in the online version of Cards Against Humanity, or have a good old-fashioned text chain going with someone you hadn’t thought to stay in touch with until now, and before we know it: we’ll be back to normal together.

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Online communication and interaction in distance higher education: A framework study of good practice

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• Published: 18 July 2019
• Volume 65 , pages 605–632, ( 2019 )

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Distance education requires an instructional design approach that can lead to educational transformation. This is characterised by advanced flexibility, learner autonomy and extensive use of digital technologies to enhance learning outcomes. The main feature of such methodology is the physical distance between teaching staff, peers and educational institutions. Various technological tools are used to bridge this distance and improve communication and interaction. This article attempts to review the literature in the field, with the aim of highlighting strategies for enhancing communication and interaction in online learning environments. After discussing the theoretical framework for online communication and interaction, the authors outline the factors involved in creating well-structured, interactive and dynamic online courses and programmes for higher education students. The article explores the multi-dimensional aspects of communication in online learning environments and the differing forms of interaction involved. Using qualitative methods, the authors’ aim is to produce a framework to help tutors and instructional designers develop more effective online courses in higher education. In addition, this article may be of value to researchers and scholar-practitioners interested in communication issues, to online learning designers, and to institutional managers recruiting teaching staff for online educational courses.

Communication et interaction en ligne dans l’enseignement supérieur à distance : une étude cadre des bonnes pratiques – L’enseignement à distance nécessite une forme de conception pédagogique susceptible d’induire une transformation de l’enseignement. Elle est marquée par une grande flexibilité, l’autonomie de l’apprenant et un vaste recours aux technologies numériques qui améliorent les résultats d’apprentissage. La caractéristique principale de ce type de méthodologie réside dans la distance physique entre enseignants, pairs et institutions éducatives. Divers outils technologiques sont utilisés pour réduire cette distance et améliorer la communication et l’interaction. Les auteurs de cet article tentent un recensement de la documentation dans le domaine en vue d’en dégager les stratégies permettant d’améliorer la communication et l’interaction en ligne dans les environnements virtuels d’apprentissage. Après une analyse du cadre théorique pour la communication et l’interaction en ligne, ils présentent les facteurs contribuant à la création de cours et de programmes en ligne bien structurés, interactifs et dynamiques destinés aux étudiants. Ils explorent les aspects multidimensionnels de la communication dans les environnements virtuels d’apprentissage ainsi que les formes diverses d’interaction. Enfin, ils s’aident de méthodes qualitatives pour concevoir un cadre censé aider tuteurs et concepteurs pédagogiques à élaborer des cours d’enseignement supérieur en ligne plus efficaces. Cet article peut également être utile aux chercheurs et praticiens spécialistes intéressés par les question de communication, aux concepteurs de formations en ligne et aux gestionnaires des établissements recrutant des enseignants pour les cours en ligne.

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Symbolic interactionism refers to a sociological theory that develops from practical considerations and alludes to people's particular utilisation of dialect to make images and normal implications, for deduction and correspondence with others (Blumer 1986 ). Constructivism refers to the assumption that all knowledge has a constructed and constructing character (Twomey Fosnot 2005 ). Ethnomethodology refers to the study of methods people use for understanding and producing the social order in which they live (Heritage 2013 ).

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Abrami, P. C., Bernard, R. M., Bures, E. M., Borokhovski, E., & Tamim, R. M. (2011). Interaction in distance education and online learning: Using evidence and theory to improve practice. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 23 (2–3), 82–103.

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Acknowledgements

The research was sponsored by Laureate International Universities, through the “David Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning”, won by Dr Dimitrios Vlachopoulos (2015–2017). Laureate International Universities has no financial or non-financial interest in this publication.

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Vlachopoulos, D., Makri, A. Online communication and interaction in distance higher education: A framework study of good practice. Int Rev Educ 65 , 605–632 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-019-09792-3

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Chapter 8: COVID and learning

8.5 The effect of online learning on communication during COVID-19 (synthesis)

Anonymous English 102 Writer

February 2021

Have you ever thought about how a virus   could change the habits of the world, especially in education? The crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic hit all over the world and has completely changed education. Some colleges refused to switch from the traditional teaching style to virtual classes. Many argue about this issue and how to deal with these new circumstances; some of them claim that the coronavirus is a good turning point that can open our eyes to a new style of learning. Others, however, prefer traditional, in-person learning. So, I am interested in learning how Covid-19 affects communications and our lifestyle specifically between the years 2020-2021 because our education system is impacted by this crisis   and I am   also   interesting to find the results and the studies that people have done about this topic.   I was surprised to see the number of studies   discussing COVID-19 that have already been published.   

The article “Online and Remote Learning in Higher Education Institutes: A Necessity in Light of COVID-19 Pandemic” by Wahab Ali discusses how higher education is being affected by COVID-19; specifically, the article describes the shift to online learning, difficulties students face, and the challenging teaching environments.   Ali argues   that virtual learning is more  effective than traditional learning , he   discuss   the difficulties that faced the students,   which caused a lot of challenges in the teaching   environments   ,   due to the rapid technological development beyond the crisis that led people to turn to technology in order to study and   communicate with each other effectively   (16). Also, some colleges give tools to the students   in order to   help them study effectively and give them the opportunity to study and communicate (16).   He relates to Gee’s   secondary discourse when he claims that in this   period of time, all people, especially students, will easily adapt to online learning due to   their   big knowledge, skills and   familiarity   with technology,   so he   stats that   the new technology   affects our communications in our daily   life style,   and how our education under this pandemic   allow   us to learn a   new ways   to communicate   (Ali   17).   If, for example, students want to contact their teachers, they will have to learn how to send formal emails; but, the knowledge of sending emails and communicating online is already ingrained in them. However, some   universities closed because they could not create a good environment for their students to learn. Ali encourages authorities and teachers to provide more information and to be prepared to improve the education system, strengthen their plans to provide more   effective lectures, and give students the opportunity to understand their lectures (17). He refers to Gee’s article, “The Oral Mode is More Narrowly Useful,” because both mention that the development of technology has major impacts upon society and communication; Gee emphasizes in his article the importance of learning new methods and how to deal with technology. The oral mode refers to spoken language during face-to-face classes. Gee and Ali also have the same opinion about the importance of learning new   technology. In addition, Ali motions in his article that some universities, such as New York University, were prepared for rapid change and met all their students’ needs for online classes by giving them tools and technology (19); successful adaptations require prior plans and an awareness of all changing circumstances (19).   

Moreover, an article by Deepika Nambiar,   “The   impact of online learning during COVID-19: students’ and teachers’ perspective” discusses the impacts of online learning on the communications between the students and their teachers. She argues that interactions between   them depend on their perspective and experiences of online learning (1); she includes a study with a survey method to collect data from universities in Bangalore to determine educators’ and teachers’   prescriptives   because education has a special place and plays a big role in India (1). She observed that rapidly switching the education system in India to be online has a very big  impact on the students’ interactions and communications due to the lack of required methods and apps for virtual learning (7); students were adapting to take their lecture in-person   even though   some colleges give tools to the students. Even so, they cannot   make every aspect of online   education equal; for example, not all students have access to reliable internet, which immediately   puts them at a disadvantage. This rapid switch affects their performances, grades, and attendance, lowering their ability to effectively participate during class time (7). Also, online learning reduces students’ understanding of lectures and prevents them from physically interacting in their labs or researching (7). Nambiar states in her article that “the results of the survey showed that 86.9% of the teachers reported that they preferred classroom teaching method more than online teaching mode” and “11.8% preferred online classes” (4). So, online learning prevents teachers from understanding their students’ understanding of the material which allows them to know the effectiveness of their materials and method they use. Also, it minimizes their ability to individually contact their students to evaluate their levels. Furthermore, teachers had difficulty adapting to an online format while still teaching effectively (Nambiar   2). Teachers also confirmed that online learning is an evidence of the evolution that allows them to teach from anywhere, but it has harmful effects on their interactions with students and prevents them from engaging with their students physically (7). It allows students to have more absences due to the lack of internet services or poverty. Lastly, teachers must spend many more hours preparing their lectures because online learning has a more formal form (7). Overall, this study shows how online learning affects students and faculty and discusses all negative aspects that the authorities   should be aware of when they are making the rules for the education systems.   In order to   obtain a comfortable environment for the students to learn and support the teachers, authorities   must create strong strategies to improve learning under this pandemic (10).  

Furthermore,   Settha   Kuama   in “Is Online Learning Suitable for All English Language Students?” begins by explaining how online   learning affects students who are studying the English language.   Kuama   states that, despite all the advantages of online learning due to its flexible environment, English learners have faced many difficulties throughout online learning such as the “cognitive challenge,” which includes understanding apps’ dynamic functions in order to succeed (65). Students also have trouble organizing their time to ensure they never miss their due dates and watch their lectures, which don’t include any attendance grades.   In addition, according to Aydin (2011), students may have “computer   and Internet   anxiety,” anxiety caused by a poor internet connection or slow computer, which also prevents them from having a comfortable space to study. Also, students are used to asking instructors questions and studying with their peers, and online learning prevents them from having these opportunities (Kuama   65). This article divides students into two groups: the students who succeed and those who struggle   Kuama   states in this article that successful students have a high level of self-regulation, know how to study effectively, and are aware of their responsibilities. They check their homework daily and use the internet to learn new studying strategies   in order to   study effectively. On the   other hand, the students that   do not succeed   in their studies do not learn any strategies to help them during their studies (69). But overall, both kinds of students agree that face-to-face learning is an opportunity to interact with each other, especially because the English language depends on conversations between students and their instructors and group work. Additionally, students will get more motivation from their peers (73). Moreover,   Kuama   discusses through the article that,   in order to   give all the students a quality online education, they   have to   have the opportunities to   learn about the online programs and apps (74).   Also,   students who have a low efficiency in   English   have   to   improve their English skills in order to   communicate   and participate with others (74).   

James Gee’s article “What is Literacy” attempts to describe literacy by describing   discourse, the effective way of using words to communicate with each other and write our own   thoughts (23). Gee defines literacy as being able to use a set of words for multiple purposes   and in numerous settings (23). Where these settings are defined as discourses, and they are   categorized into primary and secondary discourses and even these types of conversation can be   broken down. For example, a primary discourse is that way of speaking that you mostly acquire   from your family and the people around you at   birth. An example of some primary   discourses includes being in a certain country, playing with a friend, or speaking with family   members around us: these examples are described as languages a person acquires for free (22).   Secondary discourses are uses of   a language that people actively and primarily; it requires effort,   practice, and experiences, and a person does not grow up speaking in the dialect. Examples can   include the way we speak when working as a team in our workplace or if we want to engage in a   new community with a new group we have to learn their language and their styles in order to   deal with   them.  

Works Cited    

Ali, Wahab. “Online and remote learning in higher education institutes: A necessity in light of   COVID-19 pandemic.”   Higher Education Studies   10.3 (2020): 16-25.    

Gee, James Paul. “What is Literacy?”   Negotiating academic literacies: Teaching and learning   across languages and cultures   (1998): 51-59.    

Kuama,   Settha. “Is Online Learning Suitable for All English   Language   Students?.   “   PASAA:   Journal of Language Teaching and Learning in Thailand   52 (2016): 53-82.   Nambiar, Deepika. “The impact of online learning during COVID-19: students’ and teachers’   perspective.”   The International Journal of Indian Psychology   8.2 (2020): 783-793.  

Understanding Literacy in Our Lives by Anonymous English 102 Writer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Online Communication is Getting More Common IELTS Essay

In man y workplaces, online communication is getting more common than meeting face to face. Do the advantages of this development outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. You should write at least 250 words.

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Model Answer 1

In the era of modern technology, people, especially in the workplaces replaces old conservative methods of the communication like face to face meetings, instead utilizing the best of technology like online services, for instance, zoom online app or google meet to contact each other and gather whenever necessary. In my opinion, this is a great achievement and I considered it more advantageous. Also, this essay would demonstrate that its advantages far exceed its disadvantages. ieltsxpress

To begin with, online communication is far more advantageous as it consumes a lot less time as compared to conventional meetings. To cite an example, if an employee is going to attend  the online meeting, he would not have to worry about traffic jams and to polish his shoes or to press his pant because these are hidden from the rest of colleagues. Moreover, this extra time can be utilized to excel in one’s own real work. Furthermore, online gathering is feasible from one own comfort zone and it makes life much easier. For example, people avoid physical interaction in the recent pandemic of COVID-19 and was also able to work from home. This is because of online technology which proves its worth. ieltsxpress.com

Moving forward, some demerits are also associated with online services. Online services require a stable data connection and electricity. Hence, failure of any of these would cause disruption in important talks, and therefore wastage of precious time. Similarly, cybercrime is associated with computer technology thus susceptible to hacker attacks. For example, hackers from some unknown location hacked yahoo data servers which were considered major security threats even to other technological databases.

To conclude, I reiterate that technological  advancements can be proved more beneficial and advantageous in terms of less time expenditure provided that one has a good data connection and secured from hackers.

IELTS Essay on Digital Technology

Model Answer 2

Offices around the world these days are opting to hold meetings online to save both time and money. In my opinion, despite the potential loss of a strong rapport between co-workers, this is a positive considered as a whole.

Critics of these changes often point to its effect on interpersonal relationships in an office. The meeting itself is largely secondary as most information can be communicated just as easily through an online teleconference or an email. True value lies, instead, in the moments before, during and after meetings when colleagues have a chance to socialise or exchange ideas about what they have been working on. This is the reason some companies, famously Apple and Pixar, designed their offices to maximise opportunities for employees to chat with individuals from different departments. The strengthening of social bonds and the sharing of novel perspectives can both boost morale and help drive innovation.

Nonetheless, meeting online is more convenient for employees and saves money for companies. When employees must come in for their work already, many of the benefits listed above are already present and meetings mainly serve as a distraction. Remote workers will also appreciate not having to commute for a short meeting, especially if they have family or other working commitments. Moreover, companies benefit from the time that employees save because it allows them to better allocate their labour towards actual work, thereby increasing efficiency. There are also a range of costs that can be reduced once online communications become standard such as leasing less office space and savings related to office expenses and employee perks. ieltsxpress.com

In conclusion, though communicating online can be detrimental to personal relationships in an office, they offer thoughtful conveniences to employees and help cut costs. Companies ought to shift as much training to online as possible.

Online Communication is Getting More Common Essay

Model Answer 3

Undoubtedly, due to advancement in the modern technology the ways of sharing information have changed. As a result of this, in a number of workplaces the digital way of exchanging ideas is becoming more popular than personal meetings. In this essay, I am going to discuss the reasons why the merits of online communication outweigh the demerits.

To commence with, online communication has numerous advantages from an individual and business point of view. As for the company, businesses need not spend huge amount on the maintenance of the office equipment and the infrastructure. For example, there is no need to rent or lease a place to do face to face communication. From individuals’ point of view, online exchanging of idea is time saving and convenient. Moreover, individuals do not need to travel long distances to reach the workplace. Furthermore, the digital way of communication is the fastest way. There is no need to book a venue or make other arrangements. There is only a need to setup online link to invite employees to attend online meeting. Overall, it is less time consuming and involves low cost as compared to face to face interaction.

Nevertheless, online mode of exchanging ideas involves virtual and technical issues. For instance, in order to attend online meetings, there is a need to have a high quality internet connectivity to get the good quality audio and video. In addition to this, some cyber criminals can hack the sensitive business information and may use it in appropriate manner. ieltsxpress.com

To conclude, the digital way of exchanging idea is the most effective way and it involves less cost compared to face to face meetings. It is fast and convenient. Sometimes technical issues may delay the sharing of information. Even so, in my opinion, the advantages it offers to individuals and companies outweigh the disadvantages.

Online Meetings IELTS Essay

Model Answer 4

Business conferences and training are taking place more and more on online platforms, replacing traditional face-to-face communication and information exchange. This has both benefits and drawbacks in equal measure

The trend seen in companies switching their training activities and business discussions to the online mode has many advantages. First of all, this offers staff increased flexibility and full control of their timetable, which is likely to diminish the unnecessarily high stress levels and thus boost their work productivity. For instance, working mothers find this incredibly helpful for them to multitask between rearing their children and joining meetings to keep abreast of developments in the company. Furthermore, this online mode of operation could help companies economize on expenditure by not having to pay for the electricity bill, printed documents or equipment for carrying out the meeting or training procedures, for instance.

On the other hand, this option has two major drawbacks. Firstly, communication via the internet can be a hindrance as there might be failures in the flow of information. To illustrate, in [country’s name] not many people can afford a high-speed internet connection, and as a consequence, lagging connection or computer crashing can cause disruptions, reducing the comprehension among meeting or training participants. In addition, there is little room for practice, and the lack of direct guidance also prevents people from fully grasping the skills. It would be less productive because employees receiving training cannot apply what they are taught on the internet, or can be clumsy in their actual performance since there is no one to show them whether they are doing it the right way as reality is sometimes completely different from theory. ielts xpress.com

In conclusion, while there are some advantages to staying at home and participating in discussions or training sessions, there are also disadvantages showing that both sides of this development should be carefully viewed.

In man y workplaces online communication is getting more common than meeting face to face Essay

Model Answer 5

Digital Communication in many work organizations is now getting more common instead of the traditional one meeting. I believe this innovation will help in to improve the productivity of every employee and this essay will further elaborate about its advantages and a disadvantage.

World Population are now equipped with gadgets which further helps them in their day to day life, either personal or professional. And the most corporate organization, they are using digital communication via various platforms. For Example, Currently, I am working with an IT Firm and our department is share all kind of information on our Whatsapp group and if necessary they send a video message so everyone can access from anywhere which helps to save the time from face to face meeting and utilize the same into their work.

Moreover, Work organizations are now moving ahead with the Work from the home scenario and conduct an online conference if needed. Such as, My father is a Sales Manager he is performing all his tasks over the laptop and takes zoom sessions with the client to finalize the deal and also update all the information to their boss via zoom meeting which further helps him to more concentrate on work and improve his productivity. However, there are some drawbacks of this development as well, such as a manager or department head are unable to give a personal touch to his employee. For example, one of my friends is associated with a private firm and from the very first day he performs all his tasks from at home and till now he has not met his bosses, Result being he is now lacking motivational and emotional support from his company. ieltsx press.com

All in all, with the use of digital platforms nowadays the majority of workplaces are switch to online communication to save the time of their staff so that they can utilize the same to improve their productivity however there are few drawbacks but these can be manageable.

Also Check : More And More Businesses as well as Individuals are Choosing to Communicate

IELTS Writing Task 2 Technology

Model Answer 6

Digitalization has transformed the 21st century into a magnificent era. A benefit of this shift is the progressive improvisation of communication around the globe. Owing to this, people are getting interacted electronically rather than manually. This trend has an equal number of demerits as well as merits, which are elucidated below.

A bunch of significant advantages of wireless communication is speed, flexibility, and, importantly, cost-effectiveness. To explain in detail, Firstly, modernization has opened new doors of creativity, and one among them is the internet. Due to the ease of accessibility, people tend to bet works, organize meetings, and even perform rituals on the internet. Consequently, instead of conducting a meeting by gathering people, workplaces prefer computer-assisted applications that can be operated with added acceleration. Secondly, international organizations can perform their meticulous tasks and meeting irrespective of their different time zones due to online momentum and availability.

The other edge of this technological advancement is minimal capital investment. For instance, funding for workers can be controlled given meetings. Instead of which a one-time investment of electronic gadgets can be installed that carry out the work effortlessly.

On the flip side, the drawbacks which occur due to this wired communication are many. One such thing is the tone of delivery. To quote an example, English is a flexible language. The content delivered depends on the viewership. Sometimes, the message is wrongly conveyed due to the fault in language. This can be controlled in the face to face communication. Another impediment is the quality of work diminishes when the interaction is just through computers. For example, when a company orders cloth for their clothing industry when they do not test it with touch, and deals are closed online. The end product may vary, eventually leading to the downfall of their business. IELTSXPRESS

To sum up, even though in the millennial era, articulation is merely online, it can be effective through an amalgamative effort of both eyes to the eye as well as electronic operation.

IELTS Essay on Online Communication

Model Answer 7

Digital communication is becoming increasingly prevalent in modern workplaces. While there is a potential for the loss of camaraderie of colleagues, I put forward the notion that the benefits online communication brings for employees and managements outstrip the drawbacks it causes.

Critics of digitalization of workplaces very often point out that online communication erodes natural rapport between colleagues. The absence of physical proximity to co-workers affects a person’s ability to hone their interpersonal competencies, and therefore their ability to cement relationships in significant ways. They go on arguing that workers become isolated and lose their face to face interpersonal skills which ultimately impact negatively on the workplace relationship they have, and thereby impeding work progress. Moreover, “no physical cues” is another demerit of digital communication. In simple words, without gestures and facial expressions or the ability to react instantly, there is a huge risk of misunderstanding.

Despite the potential risk of ruining rapport between colleagues, communicating online is cost-effective for organizations and convenient for employees. This means that it reduces a range of costs such as less leasing office space as well as the remote working facility for employees. Not only is it time and cost-effective, but also communicating online helps reduce our carbon footprint by commuting less, this in turn, ameliorate the environment. A further advantage is increased efficiency and productivity. Put simply, online communication can ensure the flow of information and ease of communication between executives working at different tiers. Visually interactive video-conference, for instance, provides employees and customers with vital images that enable them to interpret and collaborate appropriately over a vast distance. In consequence, decisions are made faster, assignments complete on-time, and productivity increases accordingly.

To conclude, digital communication has come into vogue in the modern workplace and face-to-face meetings are decreasing as a result. Despite some demerits, which we can overcome by being more proactive and engaged in our interactions with our coworkers, this brings huge benefits for workers and employers and streamline the work process.IELTSXPRESS

Model Answer 8

Nonetheless, meeting online is more convenient for employees and saves money for companies. When employees must come in for their work already, many of the benefits listed above are already present and meetings mainly serve as a distraction. Remote workers will also appreciate not having to commute for a short meeting, especially if they have family or other working commitments. Moreover, companies benefit from the time that employees save because it allows them to better allocate their labour towards actual work, thereby increasing efficiency. There are also a range of costs that can be reduced once online communications become standard such as leasing less office space and savings related to office expenses and employee perks.

In conclusion, though communicating online can be detrimental to personal relationships in an office, they offer thoughtful conveniences to employees and help cut costs. Companies ought to shift as much training to online as possible. IELTSXPRESS

Ideas for Online Communication IELTS Essay

Also Check: In Some Countries People Spend Long Hours at Work Essay

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Face-To-Face Communication Vs Online Communication Essay

Which is better: texting through social media or speaking face to face? This online communication essay explores the two options and shows which of them is more preferable.

Online Communication Essay Introduction

Face-to-face communication vs online communication essay body, online communication essay conclusion.

Today, there are many opportunities to communicate with friends and relatives with the help of modern technologies. Online communication becomes more popular with the youth because there is no necessity to go out in order to learn the friends’ latest news. From this point, the popularity of online communication grows at the expense of personal contacts. People often choose to stay at home and share news and opinions with the help of Twitter instead of going to the café.

Thus, the computer-mediated communication became the everyday reality which is convenient for people who do not want to spend much time communicating personally or do not want to change the comfortable atmosphere of their homes in order to meet friends. Although online communication is the latest tendency to define the specifics of the people’s interactions, the computer-mediated communication should not be discussed as the negative factor influencing the quality of the people’s everyday interactions and relations with their friends and relatives because online communication is only the other form of interacting with the persons from the people’s social circles.

Online or computer-mediated communication can be discussed as a kind of stimulation for people to support their relations with the other people, sharing the information and opinions with the help of the instant messaging system, chats, or different posts in the social networks. Valkenburg and Peter pay attention to the fact that “recent online communication technologies, such as IM, encourage communication with existing friends” (Valkenburg and Peter).

New technologies allow continuing active communication after friends’ meetings and personal or face-to-face interactions (Warschauer). Thus, people receive the opportunity to contact their friends and relatives during the whole day long and develop their relations.

It is important to note that while communicating online, people are inclined to make their communication similar to face-to-face interactions with the help of emoticons and other popular techniques.

Furthermore, emoticons are usually used “in positive contexts than in negative contexts” (Derks and Grumbkow, 101). Nevertheless, computer-mediated communication cannot be discussed as an effective alternative to personal or face-to-face communication. That is why it is possible to speak only about the tendency to decrease the number of personal contacts than about the absolute ignorance of face-to-face communication as the important element of any interpersonal relations.

From this perspective, modern technologies provide people with a lot of possibilities to communicate regularly and much without any necessity to go to the cinema or café to talk with friends. Such technologies as Skype help create the illusion of the people’s presence. The instant messaging system help create the illusion of a real dialogue. Thus, according to Nekmat, those persons who receive and express “their thoughts and opinions on a certain issue online” are cognitively involved in the process of communication (Nekmat 218). As a result, it is possible to speak about the imitation of a real dialogue between persons.

Modern technologies which help people communicate using their computers instead of meeting and interacting personally should not be discussed as the threat to the development of the people’s interpersonal relations. Online communication is effective to encourage people’s interactions and develop their relations because people can communicate without paying attention to their location. Moreover, the decreasing number of personal contacts and meetings does not influence the quality of people’s relations.

Works Cited

Derks, Daantje, and Jasper Grumbkow. “Emoticons in Computer-Mediated Communication: Social Motives and Social Context”. CyberPsychology & Behavior 11.1 (2008): 99-101. Print.

Nekmat, Elmie. “Message Expression Effects in Online Social Communication”. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 56.2 (2012): 203-224. Print.

Valkenburg, Patti, and Jochen Peter. Online Communication and Adolescent Well-Being: Testing the Stimulation versus the Displacement Hypothesis . 2007.

Warschauer, Mark. Online Communication. 2001.

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With the Development of Online Communication, People will Never be Alone and Will Always be Able to Make New Friends – IELTS Writing Task 2

Updated On Jan 05, 2022

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With the development of online communication, people will never be alone and will always be able to make new friends. To what extent do you agree?

Opinion essay

Introduction

State your opinion clearly (whether you agree or disagree). Explain in brief what you are going to write in the body of your essay.

Online communication systems are emerging as real-time communication tools for individuals, students and business professionals.

Paragraph 1: The development in technology and fast internet services have allowed individuals to connect with people worldwide.

Paragraph 2: People feel a sense of belonging and collectivity as a result of this. It gives them the impression that their loved ones are only a click away.

Restate your opinion in clear and direct sentences.

Sample Essay

Online communication systems are emerging as real-time communication tools for individuals, students and business professionals. In my opinion, these systems are a wonderful combination of video, audio, and computer technology that allows individuals to interact in real-time regardless of their geographical location or time zone.

The development in technology and fast internet services have allowed individuals to connect with people worldwide. Prior to the evolution of mobile phones, individuals had to take out time to travel and meet new people in order to connect with them. People were reluctant to take so much pain, and it required too much effort. Contrary to that, people now effortlessly communicate with their friends and loved ones because of the ease of technology. People can now make new acquaintances from all around the world with apps like Whatsapp and Facebook.

Additionally, due to a lack of communication with loved ones, people used to feel isolated and alone. But people nowadays can learn about each other’s whereabouts through social media and voice calls. Many people have been able to discover new communities on the internet, where they get to interact with like-minded others. People feel a sense of belonging and collectivity as a result of this. It gives them the impression that their loved ones are only a click away. Because many people are in danger of loneliness and depression, internet communication allows them to keep in touch with others and preserve social relationships.

Many individuals believe that social media is not a trustworthy platform for communication since users’ safety is jeopardised. However, it is impossible to dismiss the notion that internet communication aids individuals in reducing loneliness and improving relationships.

To summarise, the ease with which people connect has made internet communication a useful tool for making new acquaintances, keeping in touch with loved ones, and overcoming loneliness.

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Online communication has become commonplace in every sphere of life with innumerable utilities. Most people take into account this mode of correspondence as an asset for them as it provides them opportunities to connect with their close ones as well as make new connections. Yet, in my opinion, anything online should be dealt with wariness, or it can cause havoc. In the subsequent paragraphs, this viewpoint will be further discussed.

At the outset, it is true that after the advent of the world wide web, people have never been alone as they can participate in any activity or conversation according to their wish. Unfortunately, due to this, face-to-face social interactions are losing their charm. In earlier times, when people met, they laughed, ate, ran around together, making people jovial. But, now people are becoming sluggish and want to stay in the corner of their home, in front of webcams or phone cameras, and talk to their near and dear ones. As a result, the warmth of human intimacy is lacking, and loneliness, leading to depression and various other mental issues, is spreading like wildfire. Additionally, being couched at a fixed position while partaking in fun activities with friends or family is allowing the scant opportunity of physical activity. Along with that, continuous exposure to computer screens leads to eyesight problems from a young age and develops obesity and other related issues in every individual who is more invested in online life.

Furthermore, due to the rampant use of the internet, cyber crimes are on the rise. Ranging from financial frauds, where people are looted of their hard-earned money, to identity theft, in which delinquents are creating fake accounts by using the name of other individuals on social media and cheating others. Apart from these, organized crimes are also hidden through various online manipulations like creating fake alibis or official documents. Besides, cyber-bullying, in disguise of making new acquaintances and initiating interactions, has become a reality. While celebrities are continually becoming the butt of vehement jokes or receiving threats, common people are sometimes forced to commit suicide when intimate videos/photographs or conversations are made viral on social media.

However, in case of emergencies like the recent pandemic or inability to return home during festivities, online communication can partially satisfy the urge to be a part of the family. Social platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and others have made connecting with others easier. Sadly, most of these relations have no merit as they lead to deception.

Therefore, it can be concluded that real-time relationships and communications can be detrimental to human interactions, health as well as trust and bonding if not supervised properly and one need to be careful not to get carried away by these new innovations.

Meaning: (noun) the gradual development of something. Eg: India as a nation is in a continuous evolution process.

Reluctant 

Meaning: (adjective) unwilling and hesitant; disinclined. Eg: The athlete was reluctant to give up.

Acquaintances 

Meaning: (noun) a person one knows slightly, but who is not a close friend. Eg: Business gatherings help to build strong acquaintances.

Meaning: (noun) an idea, feeling, or opinion about something or someone, especially one formed without conscious thought or on the basis of little evidence. Eg: My first impression of you was quite negative.

Meaning: (verb) maintain (something) in its original or existing state. Eg: Henry was anxious to preserve his reputation.

Trustworthy

Meaning: (adjective) able to be relied on as honest or truthful. Eg: Anil is a trustworthy person.

Meaning: (verb) put (someone or something) into a situation in which there is a danger of loss, harm, or failure. Eg: Celia’s foolish actions can jeopardise her whole career. Notion

Meaning: (noun) a conception of or belief about something. Eg: The girls cheered at the notion of becoming cheerleaders.

Ease Meaning: (noun) absence of difficulty or effort.

Eg: Shivalika excelled in her class with great ease. Isolated

Meaning: (adjective) far away from other places, buildings, or people; remote. Eg: Meena lives in an isolated area.

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Online Communication In Business Perspective: A Top-Quality Essay For Your Inspiration

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Communication , Business , Information , Media , Customers , Company , Sociology , Workplace

Words: 2500

Published: 03/08/2023

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Importance of Online Communication in Business

Abstract Globalization has compelled many businesses to realize the importance of communication within the workplace as well as outside the business. Communication plays an eminent role in the business success. The modern business environment has changed the traditional communication trend. Now, businesses have shifted towards the internet. Communication effectiveness is depended on numerous factors such as Clarity of the message; the medium used for transferring information like the internet, email correspondence; Eliminating any distortion that hinders effective communication; and the receiver ability to decode the message. Email correspondence is different from the verbal conversations so the words must be selected sensibly to make the draft more clear and professional. It is advisable not to include slang language while writing a business email. The website is an effective method of communication. Through which, the message is communicated to the vendors, customers, and business partners. Businesses communicate internally through internet usage via an intranet site. The site is useful for transferring information pertinent to the organization to its employees. This site is accessible to the members of the organization. . Social media is the communication medium in which customers get the information promptly without any delay. Business has introduced customer services on their social media pages. Thus, it can be concluded that the online communication is replacing the traditional communication mediums. To get the most of it, it is advisable for the businesses to share information clearly to the audience. Importance of Online Communication in Business

Introduction

Communication plays an eminent role in the business success. Communication is two types: written and verbal communications. Globalization has compelled many businesses to realize the importance of communication within the workplace as well as outside the business. Traditionally, companies within the workplace followed a strict hierarchical system where employees were not allowed to pass the hierarchical barrier for communication. Still, many organizations follow the same hierarchical system in which communication is restricted to a certain level. The modern business environment has changed the traditional communication trend (Written business communication, 1994). Now, businesses have shifted towards the internet. To position the brand among customers or potential customers, it is eminent to engage in the external online communication like Facebook, Twitter, etc. The company needs to transfer clearly the mission, vision and other business correspondence with employees through internal online communication. No matter whether the company is engaged in the internal or external online communication, the desired outcomes would be only possible if the information passed through effectively to the receptor. Yahoo is the best example of a company where communication gap exists. The worst financial performance indicates the importance of communication. The study discusses the significance of communication specifically online communication within business settings.

Business can run smoothly only if communication is passed through effectively. Communication can be defined as the information transmission from a source to receptor. Effective communication is one in which receptor comprehends the actual jest of information. If a receptor does not get to understand the actual message, then it is known as ineffective communication. In a business setting, it is eminent to effectively transfer message to the receptor. Communication effectiveness is depended on numerous factors such as:

Clarity of message

The medium used for transferring information like the internet, email correspondence Eliminating any distortion that hinders effective communication The receiver ability to decode the message. The message can be in two forms of online communication: internal communication and external communication. Internal communication is that in which information is transmitted within the business environment like emailing to the employees. The external online communication is that in which message is delivered externally through social media, email to stakeholders, etc. (Whitehead, 1996).

Forms of Online Communication

The internet is the major source of online communication. Through the internet, the message can be conveyed to the mass audience orally as well as in written form. In business communication, the written form of communication is more formal then it is in daily lives. There are numerous do and don’ts, which need to be considered before transferring information. In the online communication, the internet enables to connect with the mass audience. The information transferred to the audience through the internet can be of different types. For instance, it can be the purchase information transferred in written form to the vendor or customers. The effectiveness of written business communication depends on the medium used. One of the forms of internet communication is email (Rodriques, 2013). As per Forbes, the email correspondence has been increased in the business setting for transferring information from one end to other. It is expected that by 2018, the increased number of email correspondence would be around 140 in a day. The current email correspondence until 2014 is the 121per day, which is expected to increase by 140 billion by 2018. The misconception by few professional that the trend of email correspondence in the business setting would obsolete in future. The study negates the statement by providing the data regarding email correspondence increasing trend in the business. In the business, the written form of communication is always appreciated and preferred. However to keep the communication effective, there is a need to follow some dos. An effective business emails need to be concise and must include the key information. The invitation or the request must not be put at the end of the email as the last line might be ignored by the reader. Email correspondence is different from the verbal conversations so the words must be selected sensibly to make the draft more clear and professional. It is advisable not to include slang language while writing a business email. It has been proven that the reader takes interest in an email draft just for 15 to 30 seconds, the message after that might be ignored. To make the most of it, business emails must be written by considering the fact that it must be read within 15-30 seconds time. If the message does not fit the first screen, then readers might lose interest because of a psychological hindrance (MacLennan, 2003). As email is the written form of communication, so it is eminent to create a formal tone by selecting appropriate words at the start of the email. The subject and the starting words of an email play a major role in communicating the message to the recipient in an effective way. The purpose of the email must be written in the first line of an email. To maintain more interest in the email, it is advisable to discuss the context of purpose. The separate thoughts need to be discussed in paragraphs. Once the leaders in an organization understand the do and don’ts of email writing, the business heads towards progression. The more communication gap lessen, the more company's mission and vision along with other information get among customers, employees, suppliers, etc.

The external use of written communication is a website. The website is an effective method of communication. Through which, the message is communicated to the vendors, customers, and business partners. Businesses may use the website as a tool in which information about the company or products is provided. The product purchase rate indicates that the message is delivered to the customers effectively. The message delivers via website need to be shared in a manner that helps the readers to understand the message. The website is a communication medium that is used for the companies to actuate potential employees, customers, stakeholders to get insights about the company. The words use in the website must be clear and precise. The more information is simply written on the site, the more people understand and get interested in the company profile (Kaul, 2003).

Intranet Sites

For the small businesses, setting up intranet is one of the best ways to keep their employers connected with company’s updates. Employees can perform well if they are connected with the organizational information, updates and overall organizational mission and vision. Businesses communicate internally through internet usage via an intranet site. The site is useful for transferring information pertinent to the organization to its employees. This site is accessible to the members of the organization. The written information is transferred through the site to the employees in the form of community bulletin boards as well as a place where they can access information, forms and other useful resources. To secure internal information, the intranet site is usually protected by a password. It depends on the management that which part of the information they need to share with the employees. Intranet site is the best-written way of communication, which helps employees to stay connected with organizational happenings. A separate section “what’s new" helps in sharing information about company insights, job opportunities, feedbacks, etc. There are companies that use Microsoft SharePoint in which sites are designed for sharing information about specific projects. These communication mediums help in sharing information with the specific audience in an effective yet efficient manner. One of the best examples of intranet is known as ‘Fetch.’ San Diego Humane Society handles the intranet for sharing information regarding employee’s benefits and compensation, career opportunities, and events calendars, etc. the most fun element of such intranet is that, the online photo album option has been added which helps employees to stay connected to each other. The feature of Fetch is the employee recognition feature. In that feature, employees can fill out the form and nominate the best-performing employee. Fetch is considered as the most interactive yet effective writing communication medium because it helps in aligning company goal, culture, and brand. It also becomes an eminent resource tool for the workers not only that it helps employees to stay connected with the business insights and performs their jobs well. The employee appraisal and connected can be increased by using this form of written business communication tool. The traditional medium of communications is not cost effective for the business (Jain, 2012).

Social Media Sites

The internet has shaped e-commerce in which companies operate and deliver their product/brand information digitally. Brands are striving hard to be connected with the customers through social media. To get more understanding about effective communication through social media, there is a need to comprehend how things over media communications have been evolved in the past years. The traditional sources of communication like TV radio and print media etc. engage existing or potential customers in one-way communication. However, social media engages them to engage in two-way communication. Social media is the communication medium in which customers get the information promptly without any delay. Business has introduced customer services on their social media pages. Companies use social networks to be connected with the customers. The customer engagement with the product is easier through social networking sites than traditional mediums for communication. The social networking sites are the most effective yet interactive medium of communication, which helps in transferring information to the receptor but also receptor, can ask questions and give feedbacks on the shared post. Businesses now are more responsive towards any loophole exists in their business processes. The social media sites help the companies to get customer feedbacks promptly after the post-purchase experience of a product. Companies can create a positive brand image of their products. This can be done by engaging customers. The employees share and post the information about their company or product on the social sites, which help them in taking prompt suggestions from their existing or potential customers. Businesses on social sites are considered that they never are closed just like New York and Las Vegas cities. Facebook and Twitter are the most used social sites, which help the company to market and communicate their products/business anytime at any place. Social media sites have replaced verbal communication medium of communication like telephone etc. People are using social sites and engage in written communication more than phoning. The message communicated through social media sites help companies to drive their sales, find the potential candidates, build traffic, create a positive brand image and build community. Today, big giants are using social media sites to strengthen their relationships with the customers like Dell and Skittles. LinkedIn is a professional social networking site, which helps the company to strengthen its B2B focus. It assists the business to share information and attain alike minds, peers, potential employees, and suppliers. This site is also helpful in attaining the market information and insights as this helps in conducting cost-effective market research. The most interactive social media site is Facebook, where a company can grab the untapped customer market. This site is helpful in sharing information to the masses. The valuable information can be attained by using this communication medium. The platform enables companies to be connected with the customers. Twitter is another site, which helps the company for creating product branding and visibility (Rodriques, 2013; Jain, 2012).

The online communication is replacing the traditional communication mediums. There are different written business communication mediums, which help businesses to augment the sales of the product and create a global presence. These communication mediums include emails, websites, intranets and social networking sites. To get the most of it, businesses are striving hard to communicate in an effective manner. There is a need to use appropriate written content before sharing information to these mediums. The more information shared is clearly communicated to the audience; the more business can attain lucrative returns.

Jain, N., & Mukherji, S. (2012). Effective business communication. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Kaul, A. (2003). Effective business communication. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. MacLennan, J. (2003). Effective business communication. Toronto: Prentice Hall. Rittman, S., & Gonzalez, J. (1991). Effective business communication. Boston: PWS-KENT Pub. Rodriques, M. V. (2013). Effective business communication. Place of publication not identified: Concept Publishing. Whitehead, J. (1996). Effective business communication. Kingston upon Thames: Croner Publications. Written business communication. (1994). Hong Kong: Kwun Tong Vocational Training Centre, Hong Kong Christian Service.

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Essay on Importance of Communication for Students and Children

500+ words essay on importance of communication:.

Communication is one of the important tools that aid us to connect with people. Either you are a student or a working professional, good communication is something that will connect you far ahead. Proper communication can help you to solve a number of issues and resolve problems. This is the reason that one must know how to communicate well. The skills of communication essential to be developed so that you are able to interact with people. And able to share your thoughts and reach out to them. All this needs the correct guidance and self-analysis as well.

Meaning of Communication

The word communication is basically a process of interaction with the people and their environment . Through such type of interactions, two or more individuals influence the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes of each other.

Such interactions happen through the exchange of information through words, gestures, signs, symbols, and expressions. In organizations, communication is an endless process of giving and receiving information and to build social relationships.

Importance of Communication

Communication is not merely essential but the need of the hour. It allows you to get the trust of the people and at the same time carry better opportunities before you. Some important points are as follows –

Help to Build Relationships 

No matter either you are studying or working, communication can aid you to build a relationship with the people. If you are studying you communicate with classmates and teachers to build a relationship with them. Likewise in offices and organizations too, you make relationships with the staff, your boss and other people around.

Improve the Working Environment 

There are a number of issues which can be handled through the right and effective communication. Even planning needs communication both written as well as verbal. Hence it is essential to be good in them so as to fill in the communication gap.

Foster strong team

Communication helps to build a strong team environment in the office and other places. Any work which requires to be done in a team. It is only possible if the head communicates everything well and in the right direction.

Find the right solutions

Through communication, anyone can find solutions to even serious problems. When we talk, we get ideas from people that aid us to solve the issues. This is where communication comes into play. Powerful communication is the strength of any organization and can help it in many ways.

Earns more respect

If your communication skills are admirable, people will love and give you respect. If there is any problem, you will be the first person to be contacted. Thus it will increase your importance. Hence you can say that communications skills can make a big change to your reputation in society.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Don’t Go Overboard With Your Point

The conversation is about to express your thoughts. And to let the other person know what you feel. It is not mean to prove that your point is correct and the other person is wrong. Don’t Overboard other With Your Point.

Watch Your Words

Before you say something to Watch Your Words. At times, out of anger or anxiousness, we say somethings that we must not say. Whenever you are in a professional meeting or in some formal place, where there is a necessity of communicating about your product or work then it is advised to practice the same beforehand

Communication is the greatest importance. It is important to sharing out one’s thoughts and feelings to live a fuller and happier life. The more we communicate the less we suffer and the better we feel about everything around. However, it is all the more necessary to learn the art of effective communication to put across ones point well.

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An Online Degree in Leadership Prepares Managers With Better Communication Skills

Of all the skills aspiring leaders need to succeed, none are as crucial as solid communication skills. That’s why part of an online degree in leadership curriculum focuses on this subject. Business leaders must learn how to communicate their vision, goals, and expectations, ensuring everyone is on the same page. On the other hand, poor communication can lead to confusion, frustration, and lack of progress.

Leaders are not just tasked with issuing directives. They must influence and align their teams toward shared objectives. Influential leaders can paint a picture of success and motivate people to work together to achieve a common goal.

One key component of an online degree in leadership is an emphasis on communication skills. NMU Global Campus includes a course on effective leadership communication as part of its online Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Workplace Leadership .

The Importance of Communications in Management

Communication skills are fundamental to leadership for many reasons. In addition to clearly communicating team goals and inspiring others to collaborate, leaders who practice honest and transparent communication build trust with employees. They are more likely to trust and respect their leader when they are kept in the loop and feel their voices are heard.

Leaders who articulate expectations, provide feedback and encourage open dialogue to create an environment that supports teamwork and innovation. This environment also helps resolve conflict, which is inevitable in every workplace. Strong communication skills enable leaders to mediate disputes and find mutually beneficial solutions.

Communication skills also help leaders manage change, another inevitable facet of today’s workplace. With the workplace constantly changing, leaders are key players in helping employees make smooth transitions. Transparent communication helps employees understand the rationale behind changes.

All these areas also support better employee morale, which is critical to business success. Forbes notes that good communication skills are crucial for “uniting the internal team into one cohesive group. Strong relationships can boost company resilience and success while increasing talent retention rates.”

Communication Skills Leaders Need for Success

According to The Economic Times , aspiring leaders can develop better communication skills by being honest, having dialogues rather than monologues with employees, keeping communication clear and straightforward, and remaining open-minded about the opinions of others.

What skills should leaders focus on improving as they practice these strategies? They include the following.

Active listening: This skill goes beyond simply hearing someone speak. It involves paying attention, asking clarifying questions, and understanding the other person’s perspective.

Concise expression: Leaders need to articulate ideas and instructions in a way that’s easy to understand. This means avoiding jargon, using concise language, and focusing on the essential points.

Adaptability: Great communicators adjust their style to fit the audience and situation. For example, they can handle formal speeches in front of large groups and the more casual tones of a one-on-one conversation.

Empathy and emotional intelligence: Understanding and acknowledging the emotions of others is crucial for building rapport and building trust. Leaders who connect with their team emotionally are more likely to be effective.

Constructive feedback . Delivering feedback in a helpful and motivating way is a valuable skill. Leaders should be specific and actionable and focus on areas for improvement rather than just criticism.

The NMU Global Campus Online Degree in Leadership

NMU Global Campus offers a wide range of online degrees designed for working adults. These programs allow those already in the workforce to earn a degree on their schedule. The university also offers degree completion programs for those with some college credits, including a bachelor’s degree in Applied Workplace Leadership.

The degree program prepares graduates for leadership roles. They learn to become better leaders by sharpening their critical thinking skills, understanding ethical decision-making, using goal-oriented communication, and using observational and quantitative data to improve workplace climate and productivity.

They also learn to develop strong verbal and nonverbal workplace communication skills. Students learn and practice various workplace communication areas, both oral and written. Graduates know how to communicate clearly and efficiently in a way that motivates others.

Communication skills are the cornerstone of effective leadership. Leaders who prioritize communication skills improve their effectiveness and contribute to the overall success and resilience of their teams and organizations.

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

David Folkenflik

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era

She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

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NPR in Turmoil After It Is Accused of Liberal Bias

An essay from an editor at the broadcaster has generated a firestorm of criticism about the network on social media, especially among conservatives.

By Benjamin Mullin and Katie Robertson

NPR is facing both internal tumult and a fusillade of attacks by prominent conservatives this week after a senior editor publicly claimed the broadcaster had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage, risking its trust with audiences.

Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, wrote in an essay published Tuesday by The Free Press, a popular Substack publication, that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.”

Mr. Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, castigated NPR for what he said was a litany of journalistic missteps around coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza. He also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

Mr. Berliner’s essay has ignited a firestorm of criticism of NPR on social media, especially among conservatives who have long accused the network of political bias in its reporting. Former President Donald J. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that NPR’s government funding should be rescinded, an argument he has made in the past.

NPR has forcefully pushed back on Mr. Berliner’s accusations and the criticism.

“We’re proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories,” Edith Chapin, the organization’s editor in chief, said in an email to staff on Tuesday. “We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world.” Some other NPR journalists also criticized the essay publicly, including Eric Deggans, its TV critic, who faulted Mr. Berliner for not giving NPR an opportunity to comment on the piece.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Berliner expressed no regrets about publishing the essay, saying he loved NPR and hoped to make it better by airing criticisms that have gone unheeded by leaders for years. He called NPR a “national trust” that people rely on for fair reporting and superb storytelling.

“I decided to go out and publish it in hopes that something would change, and that we get a broader conversation going about how the news is covered,” Mr. Berliner said.

He said he had not been disciplined by managers, though he said he had received a note from his supervisor reminding him that NPR requires employees to clear speaking appearances and media requests with standards and media relations. He said he didn’t run his remarks to The New York Times by network spokespeople.

When the hosts of NPR’s biggest shows, including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered,” convened on Wednesday afternoon for a long-scheduled meet-and-greet with the network’s new chief executive, Katherine Maher , conversation soon turned to Mr. Berliner’s essay, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting. During the lunch, Ms. Chapin told the hosts that she didn’t want Mr. Berliner to become a “martyr,” the people said.

Mr. Berliner’s essay also sent critical Slack messages whizzing through some of the same employee affinity groups focused on racial and sexual identity that he cited in his essay. In one group, several staff members disputed Mr. Berliner’s points about a lack of ideological diversity and said efforts to recruit more people of color would make NPR’s journalism better.

On Wednesday, staff members from “Morning Edition” convened to discuss the fallout from Mr. Berliner’s essay. During the meeting, an NPR producer took issue with Mr. Berliner’s argument for why NPR’s listenership has fallen off, describing a variety of factors that have contributed to the change.

Mr. Berliner’s remarks prompted vehement pushback from several news executives. Tony Cavin, NPR’s managing editor of standards and practices, said in an interview that he rejected all of Mr. Berliner’s claims of unfairness, adding that his remarks would probably make it harder for NPR journalists to do their jobs.

“The next time one of our people calls up a Republican congressman or something and tries to get an answer from them, they may well say, ‘Oh, I read these stories, you guys aren’t fair, so I’m not going to talk to you,’” Mr. Cavin said.

Some journalists have defended Mr. Berliner’s essay. Jeffrey A. Dvorkin, NPR’s former ombudsman, said Mr. Berliner was “not wrong” on social media. Chuck Holmes, a former managing editor at NPR, called Mr. Berliner’s essay “brave” on Facebook.

Mr. Berliner’s criticism was the latest salvo within NPR, which is no stranger to internal division. In October, Mr. Berliner took part in a lengthy debate over whether NPR should defer to language proposed by the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association while covering the conflict in Gaza.

“We don’t need to rely on an advocacy group’s guidance,” Mr. Berliner wrote, according to a copy of the email exchange viewed by The Times. “Our job is to seek out the facts and report them.” The debate didn’t change NPR’s language guidance, which is made by editors who weren’t part of the discussion. And in a statement on Thursday, the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association said it is a professional association for journalists, not a political advocacy group.

Mr. Berliner’s public criticism has highlighted broader concerns within NPR about the public broadcaster’s mission amid continued financial struggles. Last year, NPR cut 10 percent of its staff and canceled four podcasts, including the popular “Invisibilia,” as it tried to make up for a $30 million budget shortfall. Listeners have drifted away from traditional radio to podcasts, and the advertising market has been unsteady.

In his essay, Mr. Berliner laid some of the blame at the feet of NPR’s former chief executive, John Lansing, who said he was retiring at the end of last year after four years in the role. He was replaced by Ms. Maher, who started on March 25.

During a meeting with employees in her first week, Ms. Maher was asked what she thought about decisions to give a platform to political figures like Ronna McDaniel, the former Republican Party chair whose position as a political analyst at NBC News became untenable after an on-air revolt from hosts who criticized her efforts to undermine the 2020 election.

“I think that this conversation has been one that does not have an easy answer,” Ms. Maher responded.

Benjamin Mullin reports on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact Ben securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or email at [email protected] . More about Benjamin Mullin

Katie Robertson covers the media industry for The Times. Email:  [email protected]   More about Katie Robertson