Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Blogs
◾
Ideal for expressing personal opinions and providing updates about
yourself publicly as well as to your friends.
Microblogs
◾
Best for very short summary updates you want existing followers to
see and that can also be found by anyone searching for you or for
the topic you cover.
Forums
◾
Best for discussing topics of shared interest and communicating as
part of a community.
VoIP calls
◾
Useful for chatting with friends or business associates. Requires a
reliable, high-speed web connection and use of the same VoIP ser-
vice. Works well for families keeping touch around the globe using
phone or video.
Videoconferencing
◾
Appropriate mainly for the workplace or schools and colleges so
groups can interact visually.
Choose your communication method carefully, understanding the ben-
efits and drawbacks of each channel. Tailor your communication to what
you need to accomplish and with whom you communicate.
Quick Review
1
What would be an appropriate medium for quickly checking with someone to confirm an appointment time?
2
Under what conditions is a forum the best method of communication?
3
In what ways should using social networks for personal use differ from using them for business communication?
Using and Managing Email
Email is the online communication method you will probably use the
most in your daily work, school, and personal life. As you learned earlier
in this chapter, you can access your email using a web interface or you
can use an email client application. In the following sections, you'll learn
how to use Microsoft Outlook 2010, the email client that comes with
the Microsoft Office suite of applications that you have studied in earlier
chapters. The general principles are the same no matter which email
client you use, though, such as setting up accounts, sending and receiv-
ing mail, and organizing messages into folders.
Setting Up Email
When you install an email client, the Setup utility offers to set up your
email account. You can add more email accounts later, though, in the
same email client so that you receive messages from multiple accounts
in a single Inbox folder. Each time you send an email, you can choose
which account it will be sent from. If you are using a web-based email
