The Communication Age: Connecting and Engaging
SAGE Journal Articles
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Journal Article 1: Hargittai, E., & Hinnant, A. (2008). Digital inequality: Differences in young adults’ use of the Internet. Communication Research, 35, 602–621.
Abstract: This article expands understanding of the digital divide to more nuanced measures of use by examining differences in young adults' online activities. Young adults are the most highly connected age group, but that does not mean that their Internet uses are homogenous. Analyzing data about the web uses of 270 adults from across the United States, the article explores the differences in 18- to 26-year-olds' online activities and what social factors explain the variation. Findings suggest that those with higher levels of education and of a more resource-rich background use the Web for more “capital enhancing” activities. Detailed analyses of user attributes also reveal that online skill is an important mediating factor in the types of activities people pursue online. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for a “second-level digital divide,” that is, differences among the population of young adult Internet users.
Journal Article 2: Powell, K. S., & Jankovich, J. L. (1998). Student portfolios: A tool to enhance the traditional job search. Business Communication Quarterly, 61, 72–82.
Abstract: Student portfolios are a tool that academic institutions can implement to enhance students' job search processes. Students can enhance their ability to pass the initial screening process by preparing a portfolio that identifies their goals and provides evidence that they possess the skills and qualities to reach these goals. The current study suggests that the portfolio should emphasize communication skills, as they are deemed most important by employers in the initial screening process. When preparing a portfolio, students should consider a variety of media, including paper, videotape, and compact disk. Schools that implement student portfolios must decide if all students will be required to prepare them, if the administrators will determine the contents, and who will approve the contents of students' portfolios.
Abstract: The author argues for the potential of discourse ethics as a framework for guiding and assessing ethical action in organizational communication. Habermas’s discourse ethics offers an intersubjective procedure for developing and challenging ethical norms through reasoned public communication. After examining the development of discourse ethics and reviewing existing organizational applications of Habermas’s ideas, the author then forms the principle of universalization into five steps necessary for an organization to enact a discourse ethic. These steps are used to assess the ethical problems and to identify alternative courses of action relating to the American Red Cross’s Liberty Fund case.