When Rhetorical Worlds Collide: A Quantitative Analysis of Discussion Board Posts

Most automobile verse motorcycle accidents typically do not make national or international news- especially when they occur in rural settings and have little impact beyond the individuals and community involved. However, in the case of an accident involving a Utah State University student and professor in September 2011 the response was anything but typical. Seconds after the accident occurred a professional videographer captured the response of bystanders as they lifted a burning car off of the trapped motorcyclist. This video quickly traveled from local news outlets to national news organizations such as CNN, New York Times, LA Times, Huffington Post, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company.  

The official news coverage tended to focus on the impact of the accident and the actions of the bystanders. The victim of the accident was covered extensively in the press, as were those who helped to lift the car of the victim. While the news coverage presented the situation, online discussion forums allowed individuals to comment on their perceived beliefs about the story and their opinions of those involved in the accident. 

In this paper the researcher will use quantitative methods to explore these comments to look for evidence of social norming behavior, the application of grand societal narratives, as well as the usage of positioning theory to understand the construction of arguments being presented in the online forum.  In a cursory examination of the comments, most of the comments are critical of both the driver of the car and first responders. This initial evaluation of the data show it is ripe for additional critical evaluation. 

We are always connected

“In such an environment, it’s no wonder that people have begun to adapt techniques and technologies from office life to manage their home life as well . . . [there are] no practical difference between home and work life” (p. 143). This statement has profound implications for knowledge workers and the organizations. While I made mention of this connection in my blog last week, there are additional theoretical facets that need to be explored.

By integrating office functions with personal technological applications, organizations are changing the ways workers function. How has this changed both expectations of employment and employers?

I think there are several pieces of evidence we can see that have changed the way organizations work and deal with employees. In his chapter, “Is Our Network Learning?” Spinuzzi examines the way organizations provide training to employees. I believe there are two major themes that are important to understand how technology has changed the role of the work. First, often the organization must adapt faster than it can provide training to workers in front line positions.

In my corporate work experience, management will quickly discover a new trend or software application and launch it before they fully understand it. A primary example of this is Facebook Groups or Corporate Tweeter feeds. While some organizations have had success with social media marketing, others have not. In a large extent it is dependent on the knowledge of workers and not the knowledge of management.  Employees - especially younger employees are being asked to fill roles they are not trained for but also do not have a background in with technology in organization. While most people have a Facebook account few understand the principles needed to make it a valid marketing tool.

Second, corporations are experiencing high turnover rates among knowledgeable workers.  Just last week NPR did a story about tech companies in the Silicon Valley and the turnover rates they experience. I believe they reported the average time with a single employer is roughly 6 to 8 months.  For young knowledge workers who are always looking for a better situation this is not uncommon.  Many corporations understand frontline workers tend to quickly move on and spending money on sophisticated training will not benefit their organization but the next employer. 

However these kinds of corporate practices lead to poorly prepared employees and can also harm the organization.  The story of Rex is a prime example of how overworked and poor trained employees can make mistakes that cost the organization time, money, and reputation. 

For example, after launching a new branding campaign Domino’s Pizza had to correct a web video showing an employee defacing a pizza that received several hundred thousand hits.  Their corporate spokesman responded by saying the responsible employees would be fired and a more stringent employee training would occur in the future.  This simple example shows the broader effects of poor corporate training. As our interconnected society continues to grow, technology will continue to be a means to control and report. However, technology could also provide the means to better training and support employees and not only control them.   

Technology, the great balancing act

After reading Spinuzzi, Hart-Davidson, and Zachry’s article I began to think about how technology has changed the way I write and interact with technology both in a professional and in a personal setting. While we use technology daily for both professional and personal reasons, how much of this technology is meant to make us a better employee?

One such example is smartphones and other mobile devices. While most college students own a smartphone to gain a certain element of social cachet, in the workplace most employees qualify for a corporate phone. It is certainly not because organizations are worried about their employees Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare activities. While some employees will use this technology to benefit their social agenda it is really meant to serve as a chain to a corporate desk. There are relatively few places on earth and relatively few times a colleague or supervisor would refrain from calling.  

No matter if you are on vacation in the Caribbean or asleep when the boss calls you had better answer. As the authors explain, technology has effectively broken down any barriers between personal and professional lives. At the university level students are being trained to become effective members of a technology workforce.  From emails to Canvas these elements will reappear in their work life in the form of content management systems and primary communication mediums for clients and supervisors.  While technology has changed the way we teach, more importantly it has changed the way we work.

In examining the genres I use to mediate my work as a graduate student I have found complexity in even simplest of tasks. Grading papers is a task that requires a significant amount of time but seems to be a straight forward task that happens at all levels of the educational process. However, this task has all types of genres that govern and influence this process.  In the process of grading my students’ most recent papers I not only had to read and understand my students’ writing, I had to balance criticism with encouragement while using speed grader to interact digitally with my students’ work. Not only do I attempt to provide helpful feedback, I also have to provide a score that is translated into the overall quality of the assignment using a traditional grading system. In addition to providing a score on each individual paper, I also look for meta-level issues to discuss and explore in the class. 

Even the most common tasks in education require all kinds of genres to interpret and interact with. I would argue that the task of grading includes all of the assumptions developed by the authors.  My work is divided into events and even mini events such as finishing a sentence, paragraph or page. I have the attempt to define my own genres and these genres could be discussed as resources.  Understanding all of the elements required in this common task and studying how others engage in this process could provide insight on how to streamline and improve this process for those who grade and those who are being graded.  This type of research has wide ranging application in all kinds of fields.