Preparing for the Evolution of Social Media

How can one prepare for a field that is rapidly changing and revolutionizing mass media communication?  As the forerunners to these changes, educators are struggling with how to better equip the journalism, public relations and advertising majors for a profession that is unpredictable.  Many of the changes have been burdensome to the budgets of colleges and universities, but it is essential to get the soon-to-be graduates for the workforce (Hopp, 2013, para. 2).

The information that is provided depicts the results of a study of students in these major concentrations, at a state-funded university, that is required to complete a three-course sequence focusing on new and traditional media.  The study was conducted at the beginning of each student’s in-major coursework so that the study can find out how the each student has been influenced and because of which source of technology.  “Because postsecondary educators have the ability to directly influence a student's conceptualization of the normative requirements related to work as a professional, understanding the role that such influences play in student adoption decisions is of great importance to the ongoing attempt to identify the best practices for educating tomorrow's media producers” (Hopp, 2013, para. 5).  Subjective norms have a large effect on the students’ behavioral intentions.  The fact that many students lack tangible experience causes them to rely on others to answer the questions that they may have regarding the necessary skills needed in the workforce.  Students can also reduce the uncertainty of the post-graduate lifestyle by acting in agreement with the superiors (2013, para. 9). 

The impacts of subjective norms on the behavioral intentions were found to be based on the communication major.  This means that in the courses with a mixture of majors, the professors have the ability to impact the students’ adoption intentions similarly.  Although it seems like there has been no momentum in the education of the upcoming professionals, but there are some professors that have tried some unorthodox teaching methods.  Journalism, Public relations and advertising majors should have sort of sensitivity training, as well as how to write for these audiences.  Martindale (1988) spoke of how he would prepare his students by having them read articles that were written for different audiences and compare and contrast them.  In many instances, he would speak about the different races, sexuality, gender and all others that can be considered a minority.  The consciousness is very helpful to public relations majors because of their constant interactions with the publics, intergrating this knowledge on different mediums will help as well.  For example, public relations majors often see the benefits of technology, but are not reliant on them to succeed their career goals.  This is why the production techniques of each profession should be reviewed along with the discussing the information above.  Overall, the student’s enthusiasm of the new technologies is essential to developing competent professionals.  The students must also rely on the knowledge of traditional communication, like writing and editing, this information will always be relevant.

References:

Felecia, J. R., & Patton, J. P. (2000). The nature of journalism courses devoted to diversity. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 55(1), 24-39. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/215291754?accountid=3783

Hopp, T. M. (2013). Subjective norms as a driver of mass communication students' intentions to adopt new media production technologies. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator, 68(4), 348-364. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1491982723?accountid=3783

Swallow, E. (2010). The Future of public relations and social media. Retrieved from Website: http://mashable.com/2010/08/16/pr-social-media-future/

Tiwari, R. and Singh, BP. (2010). Traditional communication media in the development process-status, role and relevance in new era.  Retrieved from Website: http://agropedialabs.iitk.ac.in/openaccess/?q=content/traditional-communication-media-development-process-status-role-and-relevance-new-era