Prior to completing this activity, read “Self-Assessment and Dialogue as Tools for Appreciating Diversity” and watching the videos What Your Boss Wants: Business (Links to an external site.) and Understanding our Biases and Assumptions (Links to an external site.). 

Bias communications occur in social platforms daily. Also, businesses and leaders are continuing to frequent social sites more frequently. The following discussion introduces the potential for the biases that may neglect, or promote, the importance for diversity within organizations, as communicated through social platforms that often promote information through the use of increased emotional triggers and dialogue. Explore the internet for information about the users and frequency of use for social platforms prior to completing the discussion to aid in increased awareness of the effects of social networking communications on healthy diversity practices and the potential for bias. Explore Twitter. If you are unfamiliar with how to do this, click here (Links to an external site.). You will need to sign up for an account if you do not have one, but you are not required to interact or share personal information. Search for a popular leader of an organization Examples: Rachel Sklar, Founder/CEO at TheLi.st, @rachelsklar (Links to an external site.)) Bill Gates, Co-founder of Microsoft, (@BillGates (Links to an external site.)); Ozzie Guillén, Manager of the Miami Marlins, (@OzzieGuillen (Links to an external site.)) Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of the Trump foundation, (@EricTrump (Links to an external site.)); Arianna Huffington, Co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, (@ariannahuff (Links to an external site.)) Pharrell Williams, owner of the non-profit organization called “From One Hand To AnOTHER” (FOHTA), singer, songwriter, producer, (@Pharrell (Links to an external site.)) Bill Clinton, Founder of the Clinton Foundation and 42nd President of the United States, (@billclinton (Links to an external site.)); Oprah Winfrey, President of Harper Studios, television host, actress, producer, philanthropist and entrepreneur, (@Oprah (Links to an external site.)) You can choose one of these or another. Choose a recent tweet and read the comments on the thread. (Note that you are not required to have a twitter account to search.) Take a snapshot of the thread to also include in your discussion (smartphone, “screenshot”, or “snipping tool” are all options for this function.) (**Does not have to include all the comments in the thread.) Analyze and discuss how diversity (e.g. cultural, political, gender, ethnicity, or economic) can be seen by the differing posts presented on the social thread. Include your thoughts about the potential for bias based on the thread you choose. Discuss, based on our content this week, how these types of diverse comments could subsequently affect many levels of the organizational process, including marketing/branding, hiring future employees, and training and development. (Consider both the positive and the negative effects.) What strategies could you personally apply in social networking sites to prevent self-bias and stereotyping of others, based on a better understanding of diversity in an organization?

Your initial post should be between 300 and 350 words. You must use at least one scholarly, peer-reviewed source that was published within the past five years. Cite all information from your sources according to APA guidelines as outlined in the In-Text Citation Helper: A Guide to Making APA In-Text Citations (Links to an external site.). List each of your sources at the end of your post according to APA style as shown in the sample page for References (Links to an external site.).  

Guided Response: Review several of your classmates’ posts. Respond substantively to at least two of your peers. What type of leader did your peer(s) choose? Are the suggestions to decrease potential self-bias in social-networking seem plausible? Share your suggestions for preventing self-bias. Were your thoughts about the effects in the workplace similar or different than your peer(s)? Continue to monitor this discussion board through 5 PM (Mountain Time) on Day 7 of the week. Be sure to also respond to your instructor’s comments to you in this forum by Day 7 (when applicable).

Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.