Electronic messages in business context

Electronic Communication
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Electronic Communication in Business
Technology has improved the way people communicate, as it is a fact that forty years ago people would mostly face-to-face, letter, or the rich, would use telephones. In the present, many people connect with one another mainly through mobile phones. In the current society, anyone would look unique if they did not own a mobile phone, and it has provided the easiest way for conveying important messages across the globe. Through the smartphones, communication takes place in various ways, that is, through phone calls, instant messaging, such as SMS, and through social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter. Instant messaging (IM), blogging, podcasts, and email have had significant impacts on internal and external communication in organizations.
IM is very popular and a commonly used service for communication through the internet, enabling everyone to communicate through groups or privately (Ramirez et al., 2008). The system is appropriate for internal communication purposes. The users of the service appreciate the convenience and functionality as some of the most beneficial factors that it offers. Instant messaging is one of the channels of virtual communication helps in moments when it is inconvenient to talk in person with someone else. However, IM provides the informal but straightforward face-to-face connection, even though such conversations are usually, short, spontaneous and has many contexts.

Zhou (2005) argues that instant messaging supports synchronous communication, whereby the user can do other things as well as communicate at the same time, making communication environment very attractive. However, in a business perspective, it does not give the best environment for third-party communication. The content of the messaging is usually personal that is not appropriate for official purposes.
Email is still the most popular electronic communication media in the business world. It provides the best platform for written communication in business. Therefore, there is little chance that instant messaging would replace it soon. Email offers benefits such as universality. For instance, a company using a Yahoo account can send an email to another organization using a Gmail account. Secondly, it is possible to send a single message to many people at once. Lastly, it keeps records of the written messages for future reference. Many organizations have complained of malicious malware attacks sent through emails. However, it will not be easy to replace it with instant messaging given that it provides sufficient means of sharing large files between businesses and the content of messaging is objective as well.
Podcasting and blog writing provide better options for communication within organizations. Podcasting between seniors and juniors in an organization can improve retention rate. It provides a better environment for engaging employees. Podcasting helps with internal communication as well as candidate engagement with the aim of building a particular brand. Internal communication can happen in different ways. For example, podcasts can provide a favorable platform for employees to engage CEOs; supervisors can give updates on team meetings; valuable announcements; organizational changes can b announced; and changes in company programs, among others. Blog writing helps in external communication for organizations. Company blog posts can communicate the fact that the particular business is an expert in the services or products they offer. Blog posts also act as guerilla marketing platform at low or no costs.
Therefore, instant messaging, email, podcasting and blog writing have communication roles for companies. Instant messaging and podcasting facilitate internal communication, whereas emailing and blog writing still help firms in external communication.
References
Ramirez, A., Dimmick, J., Feaster, J. & Lin, S. (2008). Interpersonal media competition: the
gratification niches of instant messaging, e-mail, and the telephone. Communication Research, 35: 529-547.
Zhou, L. (2005). An empirical investigation of deception behavior in instant messaging. IEEE
Transactions on Professional Communication, 48(2), 147-160.