The proliferation of social media tools allowing for communication within corporations has recently been the subject of two studies. Meyers and Tassleman find that such tools tend to exert a positive effect but that such effect tends to diminish the larger the organization is. The two speculate that one of the reasons is that the kind of communication in social media presumes a level of comfort that is not consistent with that typically found in larger companies. Consequently, many employees are reluctant to use social media tools because they feel constrained by a workplace culture that is not consistent with the social values these tools promote. Such a result undermines the very relaxed spirit that upper-level management hopes to foster by using such tools.
Gershin focuses on the extent to which social media tools have displaced other forms of office communication, notably email and in-person interactions. Additionally, he uses data collected from surveys, from both middle management and upper management, to assess the effect, if any, that such displacement has had. His findings are twofold: social media is in many cases deemed extraneous since it adds a layer of redundancy to communication. In other words, employees have adequately communicated something via traditional channels but simply echo such communication on social network channels. However, Gershin found that social media tools fostered company culture because they provided employees a means of planning social events, something they might not have done using traditional forms of communication.
Which of the following, if true, best calls into question the validity of Gershin’s findings regarding the effect of social media tools in the workplace?
A. Some of those who plan social events use only traditional forms of communication to do so.
B. Of those surveyed, more mentioned the negative effects of social media in the workplace than the positive effects.
C. Redundancy can serve as a way of reinforcing and emphasizing communication pertaining to social events.
D. The thoughts of middle and upper-level managers do not accurately reflect the thoughts of those most likely to use social media in the workplace.
E. Redundant communication is found both in traditional forms of office communication and on social media.
According to Meyers and Tassleman, social media tools tend to be less effective the larger the company because
A. communication is often lost between different levels of an organization
B. the values of larger companies tend not to be closely aligned with those of social media
C. the cultural values of upper management and middle management are not consistent with those of other employees
D. there is a greater amount of redundancy as the number of employees using office-based social media increases
E. small companies are better able to communicate the limitations that using social media in the workplace presents
The primary purpose of the passage is
A. to discuss how the implications of two schools of thought are likely to lead to divergent conclusions
B. discuss two findings regarding an issue
C. promote the benefits of a practice common in the workplace
D. assess the validity of two findings
E. criticize the methodology used in two different studies
01 Jan 2023, 10:40
55% (02:56) correct
