DD10HW6 Individual Resource Evaluation, Part 1

This article was published in 2010 which is relatively recent, considering it takes time to implement a study, write and article and then publish. The authors' biographies are included and show they all have experience in technology, technical writing, and communication. The evidence appears to be sufficient. There were 27 references, ranging in years and from a variety of journals. The authors also included limitations to their study, acknowledging there may have been self-report bias (1). I thought the findings of this article were interesting, yet agreeable. People feel more relaxed when joining a group and seeing a warm funny photo of the person as their profile picture, rather than a professional photo, which tells them "it's all business" (1). It was also noted that when a new person joins a group and receives an immediate IM from another team member, they feel welcome. I can understand this, but also have been in groups where this has occurred and it's because the person sending the IM wants to get started with the project quickly and down to business. This article provides results from participants' recording logs, which again could be bias, but it also could be an accurate portrayal.  The authors do a good job of making this known to the reader, including the limitations of the study and future recommendations (1).


1. Wojahn P, Taylor SK, Blicharz K. Forming groups into teams through virtual interactions:  Researching remote collaborators and “getting to know you.” 2010 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference. 2010; 203-209. doi: 10.1109/IPCC.2010.5530009.