Technology, Community, and Technical Communication on the Internet
- 1 January 1996
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Business and Technical Communication
- Vol. 10 (1) , 81-99
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651996010001004
Abstract
Computer-mediated communication on the Internet offers new challenges and opportunities for technical communication. The cases of Lotus MarketPlace and the Clipper chip illustrate the specialized nature of technical communities on the Internet and suggest that when technical messages are not overly complex, the process of reposting may widen community appeal but also promote inaccurate information. Yet, when technical messages are highly complex, audiences may not repost such messages; this preserves accuracy of information but at the same time limits how many people will read the information. Finally, these cases strengthen recent arguments that rhetorical delivery is an increasingly important component of technical communication.Keywords
This publication has 6 references indexed in Scilit:
- A different kind of forum: rethinking rhetorical strategies for electronic text mediaIEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 1994
- Some Concepts and Axioms about CommunicationWritten Communication, 1994
- The Polis as Rhetorical CommunityRhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric, 1993
- The Idea of Community in the Study of WritingCollege Composition and Communication, 1989
- Group processes in computer-mediated communicationOrganizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1986
- Social psychological aspects of computer-mediated communication.American Psychologist, 1984