Blogging: The remediation of academic and business communications

Technology is changing the way people communicate and blogging is a leading example of how modern communications is being affected. Blogging is important to academia and business for remediating communications by creating spaces in order to effectively network. In this study I explore the profound effect that blogging is having in both these areas. First, I explore the possibility that academic blogs are leading to a new collaborative effort that makes a transformative contribution to teaching and learning methods. I compare various academic blogs and supplement my research by reviewing several leading educators on their use of blogs in their classrooms. Second, I examine the issues that are being affected within academia, including whether online publications such as academic blogs should be included in establishing a new metric in evaluating assistant professors in order to determine tenure, as well as promotions for other faculty members at universities. I have developed a survey, and will use the results to present the emerging picture of the changing values within academia. The second portion of my thesis concentrates on how blogging is refashioning business communications. By examining a variety of business blogs it is clear that there is a trend among businesses to use blogs for research and development. Businesses also add value to their companies by establishing effective networks that is becoming increasingly vital because of globalization. By comparing different employee blogs, the question arises of how much control a business should exercise over their employee blogs. A major concern in business and consumer communications is whether business blogging significantly improves contact between businesses and consumers. In the final section of this thesis I recount the experience of submitting a business proposal to American Airlines that includes using a blog as an interactive customer service tool. Education, business, law, ethics, psychology, and communications studies are the disciplines included within the framework of this thesis. Moreover, the conclusion encompasses the disciplines of politics and sociology. The conclusion focuses on the interdisciplinary research into the transformative effects blogging is having in the respective fields of higher education and business, and includes what implications are drawn from examining how blogging is remediating communications in academia, business, and beyond.