Online Communication Style

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Online Communication Style

• Ron Rundus
• COM 538
• 11/29/04

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Online Communication Style

• What are the current standards of style for
  online communication?

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Online Communication Style

• The Past Broadcast Journalism Style
• The Present Current Online Style Guides
• The Future Next Evolution of Style

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The Past Broadcast Journalism Style

• Words written for the ear and not the eye, had to
  differ from print style
• Pioneers
• Floyd Gibbons, first daily newscaster (NBC)
• Lowell Thomas, storified (CBS)
• Edward R. Murrow, devoid of adjectives (CBS)

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The Past Broadcast Journalism Style

• Short, but descriptive sentences
• Participial phrases teaming with an exotic
  population, India
• Active verbs
• Brevity and urgency - kept attention of listeners
• Had to be written the way the reporter wanted to
  say it conversational, but not chatty

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The Past Broadcast Journalism Style

• Had to be written for the ear, but also the eye
  and the mouth of the reporter
• SOUNDS ENTICING.  BUT I-D-C ANALYST RANDY
  GIUSTO (JEW-STOW) IS NOT CONVINCED CONSUMERS WANT
  THE COMPLEXITY OF A P-C IN THE LIVING ROOM.

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The Present Online Communication Style
What is style?
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The Present Online Communication Style

• Definition of web style
• Good web style is a complex subject,
  incorporating general principles of good writing
  style and good visual design as well as technical
  matters specific to the World Wide Web. 1
• 1 Rice University, Rice Information
  Technology, RiceInfo World-Wide Web Style Guide,
  http//www.rice.edu/web/style.html (accessed
  November 13, 2004).

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The Present Online Communication Style

• Three types of style guides
• Enterprise style - largely derived from
  commercial Web content management endeavors.
• Generalized style - intended for broader
  audiences with broader scope.
• Informal style (varied) enterprise-related
  guides put together as a loose collection of
  procedures and conventions, or as a simple
  outline offering a few tips on style.

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The Present Online Communication Style

• Summary
• There are standards of online communication
  style, but they exist within different
  disciplines and serve different purposes (e.g.,
  written for IT professionals and not the general
  public, or for large enterprises and not small
  web sites, or vice versa). Many of these are
  implied standards of style.
• Explicit standards of style do not exist.
• Standards of style are usually found under the
  umbrella of usability or content management.

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The Present Online Communication Style

• Summary
• There is not an online communication style guide
  that fully addresses written communication for
  the web.
• There is not a shared system of style across the
  categories of style guides, though there are some
  shared, implied conventions (usability,
  scannability, chunking, etc.)
• There are not style guides written specifically
  for non-technical users.

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The Future Online Communication Style

• The grand irony as we debate the importance of
  validation and what web standards are is this
  little bugaboo Web standards arent...What we
  can do is work together more effectively to hone
  in on what should explicitly fit into a standard,
  and what is a best practice, and come up with
  some useful terms that we as professionals
  understand. 2
• 2 Molly Holzschlag. What Is a Web
  Standard? Web Standards Project,
  http//www.webstandards.org/ (accessed November
  28, 2004).

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The Future Online Communication Style

• Future standards of online communication style
  will
• Have an explicit system and conventions
• Be written to include non-technical lay-persons
  and non-technical business users while still
  acknowledging the underlying technology
• Address writing for online communication

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The Future Online Communication Style

• Needs
• System an ordered and comprehensive assemblage
  of facts, principles, doctrines, or the like in a
  particular field
• Convention a rule, method, or practice
  established by usage custom 3
• 3 Eds. New Websters Encyclopedic Dictionary
  of the English Language (New York Random House
  Value Publishing, 1997).

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The Future Online Communication Style

• Needs
• Recognizing and addressing perceived obstacles to
  developing new standards
• Anticipating the needs of non-technical users

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The Future Online Communication Style

• Plan for Accomplishment
• Build a consortium of Web professionals,
  academics, and business users to develop
  standards, systems, and conventions for online
  communication style

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Online Communication Style

• Questions?