12: Electronic Communications and Social Media

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Page ID: 172690

US Air Force
US Department of Defense

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This chapter covers:

Electronic Mail (E-mail)
Social Media
Instant Messaging (IM) and Texting
Telephones, Voice Mail and FAX
Electronic Communications Glossary

Innovation in the 21st century is at your fingertips-literally. The changes in electronic communication technologies, software, and applications are rapid with new methods to stay connected being developed and deployed daily. They are also subsequently disappearing at an alarming rate, as the new next big thing is introduced. The Tongue and Quill would be presumptuous to address the specifics of all electronic communication technologies. Such content would fill volumes of books and many large organizations have written guidance on electronic communications. Your unit may fall under the purview of such higher-headquarters guidance. But we would also be remiss if we did not address some fundamental principles applicable to all electronic communications. For these reasons, we’ll hit the basics here and suggest you check with your local experts for more details on policies applicable to your electronic communications and social media.

To keep this chapter both simple and relevant, we focus on electronic mail (e-mail), social media, voice mail and FAX since these are the official means of many or most electronic communications in the Air Force; however, the principles here can be applied to other electronic communications and "the next big thing" that is just around the corner. At the end of the day, electronic communications are just forms for communicating with each other and we need to treat all communications with the same attitude as if we were face to face.