tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/service-31200/articlesService – The Conversation2023-06-21T12:30:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2068502023-06-21T12:30:46Z2023-06-21T12:30:46ZMission trips are an evangelical rite of passage for US teens – but why?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532329/original/file-20230616-15-pgf7sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C3%2C2092%2C1415&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where to?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/the-great-commission-royalty-free-image/500535572?phrase=missionary&adppopup=true">georgemuresan/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As tourists head to airports this summer, American travelers are likely to see groups of young people in matching T-shirts awaiting flights to Latin America or further afield. Their T-shirts sport biblical verses or phrases like “<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah+6&version=KJV">Here I am, send me</a>” or “Called to serve,” and the teens may gather for prayer before boarding.</p>
<p>These young people are heading off to be short-term missionaries: an experience that has become a rite of passage in some corners of Protestant Christianity as overseas travel has become more affordable for Americans. According to some estimates, as many as 2 million youth and adults per year <a href="https://missionguide.global/articles/mission-trip-research">participated in Christian mission trips</a> before the pandemic, including overseas trips and trips to poor communities at home.</p>
<p>While it is difficult to confirm these numbers, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/shortterm-mission-trips-a_b_866197?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAdTC-GDAXE0A6srZ0YFruX-Kd80Z5b_Yx_3mPyiMCVyUXTH1MaINavVbvjU2HEYUoS2lyAp-cnecpEpBqVHmMCoZC2Gb5_Fc5GOYKES2N8mW605weSjAdi3cS3a0jSW2uylVujFKbY68egtEjPZm_DD67w_AMK96cZBMUgJVtyH">mission trips</a> are now especially commonplace within evangelical churches, with larger and more affluent churches offering multiple trips throughout the year. Some congregations plan their mission trips in-house. Others enlist the services of mission companies with names like World Race, He Said Go and World Gospel Mission. Typically, these companies combine humanitarian service, development projects and faith. They promise participants adventure, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/sof.0.0223">spiritual growth</a> and an opportunity to serve as Jesus’ hands and feet in the world.</p>
<p>I have been studying short-term missionaries for the past six years. I have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2018.1529666">interviewed dozens of pastors</a>, trip leaders and young missionaries, and I have had the opportunity to participate in a mission trip in Central America. Through this research, I have learned about why so many young Christians want to go on mission trips and have been struck by their desire to “serve.” Yet, as <a href="https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/geography/our_people/our_people_directory/nagel_caroline.php">a geographer</a>, I am concerned by their lack of knowledge about the people and places they visit.</p>
<h2>‘White man’s burden’</h2>
<p>The missionary impulse within Christianity comes from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-great-commission-and-why-is-it-so-controversial-111138">the Great Commission</a>, <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28%3A16-20&version=NIV">a Gospel verse</a> in which Jesus instructs his disciples “to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” </p>
<p>The spirit of evangelism <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.389">thrived among European and American Christians in the 19th century</a>, fueled by frontier expansion and colonization. Protestant missionaries spread throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific, seeking to win souls for Christ. Also important, in many of these men’s and women’s eyes, was something often referred to as <a href="https://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5478/">the “white man’s burden</a>”: the imperialist idea that they had a duty to introduce Western civilization to supposedly “backward” people.</p>
<p>Missionaries had mixed success in converting so-called natives to Christianity. But <a href="https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/fmmovement.htm">they left lasting impacts</a> through the many institutions they established around the world, including schools, universities and hospitals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sepia-toned old photograph of a woman in full skirts seated before a row of Chinese boys." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532331/original/file-20230616-16655-ttuksg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A teacher and students at a Christian missionary school in Shanghai around 1855.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/miss-fay-and-her-pupils-at-a-christian-missionary-school-in-news-photo/3231527?adppopup=true">William Jocelyn/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Missions 2.0</h2>
<p>Contemporary missionaries are the inheritors of these earlier waves. Yet they also have some distinctive characteristics. </p>
<p>Historically, mission work was a lifelong calling and profession, one that often meant never coming home. Career missionaries continue to have a role in missions today, sometimes financially supported by denominational organizations like the Southern Baptist Convention’s <a href="https://www.imb.org/southern-baptist-convention/">International Missions Board</a> or by donations from individual churches.</p>
<p>But the movement is now dominated by short-termers who are in the “mission field” for a couple of weeks or months. Some trips go to destinations where Christians are a minority, such as the Middle East, India or Southeast Asia. More commonly, they take place in countries with a sizable Christian population and partner with local evangelical organizations and churches “planted” by long-term missionaries. Trip organizers I interviewed emphasized that the mission teams are there to serve and to take direction from their local partners.</p>
<p>Another distinctive feature of short-term missions is their approach to faith. Rather than push “conversion” as a goal, today’s mission leaders emphasize “relationship building” in hopes that connections will gradually lead people closer to Christian beliefs.</p>
<p>Trips are oriented not just around the spiritual transformation of the local community but also the spiritual transformation of missionaries themselves. Pastors and organizers say that trips are meant to teach young American Christians what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus, to share the gospel and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2018.1529666">to love people who are not like them</a>. Organizers talk about young people learning to “live missionally” and to see opportunities to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.007">build God’s kingdom in their ordinary lives</a>.</p>
<h2>Sacred and secular</h2>
<p>Short-term missions, however, also appeal to young people’s desire to see the world and to be adventurous. The language used to describe and promote trips is remarkably similar to secular overseas volunteering or “voluntourism,” as well as <a href="https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/what-a-gap-year-is-and-how-it-prepares-students-for-college#:%7E:text=The%20Gap%20Year%20Association%2C%20an,gap%20year%20each%20academic%20year.">gap-year programs</a> before college.</p>
<p>Both experiences are built around the idea of getting out of your comfort zone and experiencing cultural differences in the name of self-improvement, preparing for <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Cosmopolitan_Journey/cDtzAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=gap+year+experiences+cosmopolitanism+youth+identity+globalization&pg=PP8&printsec=frontcover">life in a globalized, diverse world</a>.</p>
<p>Another similarity is that both Christian and secular programs usually involve some kind of service project: building a house, digging a well or leading recreational activities for children. Such activities are meant to give young people confidence in their ability to “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14650045.2018.1529666">make a difference” in the world</a>, while developing resilience and gratitude.</p>
<h2>‘Walk with the poor’</h2>
<p>Not all evangelicals <a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/still-cancel-short-term-mission-trip/">see the value of mission trips</a>. Critics have argued that American short-term mission teams dump unwanted goods on host communities, are culturally insensitive and commonly assume that locals need American “expertise.” Construction projects push out local workers and often result in shoddily built structures – suggesting the enormous sums of money spent on mission trips <a href="https://calvin.edu/offices-services/service-learning-center/resources/publications/files/readings/vanengen-short_term.pdf">might be better spent</a> if donated directly to local organizations. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three people wearing blue shirts with 'Volunteer' written on the back look at a house being built." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532333/original/file-20230616-17-kqcxpa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Helping or, ultimately, hurting?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/volunteers-helping-to-build-homes-for-the-needy-royalty-free-image/533998987?phrase=missionary&adppopup=true">kali9/E+ via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Books like “<a href="https://chalmers.org/resources/books/when-helping-hurts/">When Helping Hurts</a>,” by evangelical authors <a href="https://covenant.edu/academics/ecd/faculty/fikkert.html">Brian Fikkert</a> and <a href="https://covenant.edu/academics/ecd/faculty/corbett.html">Steve Corbett</a>, aim to explain how leaders can make mission trips more effective, both in terms of alleviating poverty and in terms of evangelism. </p>
<p>Warning against <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-white-saviourism-harms-international-development-199392">a “white savior” attitude</a>, they suggest that the purpose of short-term missions is to “walk with the poor” and build lasting relationships that will lead people to Christ. </p>
<h2>Beyond the bubble</h2>
<p>In my research, I have met mission trip leaders who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.007">trying to put these ideas into practice</a> without harming the communities they visit. But troubling elements persist. </p>
<p>Trip organizers want to open American Christians’ eyes to realities of the world outside of their bubbles. Yet their messages tends to imply the effects of poverty can be overcome through personal faith in Christ. Short-term missionaries I interviewed did not blame people for being poor but were reluctant to describe the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.007">hardship they witnessed in terms of social injustice</a>.</p>
<p>The mission teams I studied learned almost nothing about the impacts of corruption, violence and social inequality on the communities they believed they were there to help. Trip leaders felt that such information would bore participants and detract from the spiritual aims of the trip. In effect, what mattered to the volunteers and organizers was simply that places were poor and foreign rather than the reasons poverty was so entrenched. </p>
<p>Many of the short-term missionaries I interviewed described feeling changed by their trip and becoming more aware of their own privilege. But the focus on spiritual fulfillment means that these young people may be missing out on opportunities to deepen their understandings of the world and to build solidarity with the communities they visit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline R. Nagel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Today’s short-term missionaries continue a long legacy, but in a very different way.Caroline R. Nagel, Professor of Geography, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/877992017-11-28T14:15:02Z2017-11-28T14:15:02ZHow to encourage young people to make a habit of helping others<p>The idea of helping others, also known as social action, service or volunteering, is often held up as a virtue of national importance to British identity. It is at the heart of treasured programmes such as the Scouts, the Guides, or the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, as well as new bodies such as the <a href="https://www.ncsefltrust.co.uk/">National Citizen Service</a> (NCS) and the <a href="http://www.iwill.org.uk/">#iwill campaign</a>. </p>
<p>But how do you encourage young people to form a habit of helping others that lasts throughout their lives? In new <a href="http://www.jubileecentre.ac.uk/1581/projects/current-projects/a-habit-of-service">research</a>, my colleagues and I found that the younger they started, the more likely they were to continue. </p>
<p>Helping others often brings benefits for individuals as well as broader society. It can develop desirable character qualities and life skills in the young people who take part. Research also <a href="https://blogs.ncvo.org.uk/2017/04/07/does-volunteering-improve-mental-health/">shows</a> that giving can often have a positive impact on well-being and mental health.</p>
<p>In a three-year study that surveyed more than 4,500 people between the ages of 16 and 20, we looked at which factors were associated with young people who have made a “habit of service”. We defined this as when a young person took part in service in the preceding 12 months and confirmed they would definitely or very likely continue participating in the next 12 months. Participants who had taken part in programmes such as the NCS, <a href="https://vinspired.com/">VInspired</a> and <a href="https://diana-award.org.uk/">Diana Award</a> were invited to complete the survey. </p>
<p>We found that young people with a habit of service were more likely to have started social action at a younger age than those without that habit. Those who first got involved under the age of ten were more than twice as likely to have formed a habit of service than if they started when they were 16 to 18 years of age, as the chart below shows. They were also more likely to be involved in a wider range of activities such as volunteering, tutoring and helping to improve their local area and would participate in them more frequently.</p>
<p><iframe id="OSGGQ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OSGGQ/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Building character</h2>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/developing-character-skills-in-schools">sustained interest</a> in character education within the Department for Education – and the recent publication of a book by the former education minister <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/book-review-taught-not-caught-nicky-morgan">Nicky Morgan</a> on the topic – we were also interested how encouraging young people to make a habit of service relates to different types of character virtues.</p>
<p>Those with a habit of service identified themselves more closely with moral virtues such as compassion, honesty and integrity and civic virtues such as volunteering and citizenship than those who hadn’t developed a service ethic. They were also more likely to recognise the double benefit of undertaking service – that it helped develop their character as well as benefiting society more broadly.</p>
<p>We also found that, when young people had the opportunity to lead a social action project themselves and reflect on it afterwards, they were more likely to form a habit of volunteering. One of the most important factors in making a habit of this kind of activity was if the experiences were both challenging and enjoyable. </p>
<p>In line with many <a href="https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk/participants/features/what-makes-people-more-likely-to-volunteer">studies</a> on volunteering, girls were more active participants and also more likely to have formed a habit of serving their community than boys. As were those young people who practised a religion. Parents and friends were also an important factor in whether a young person make a habit of service. Friends were a bigger influence than parents on the group of 16 to 20-year-olds we surveyed. </p>
<p>I hope that these findings will help those in the voluntary sector plan and deliver youth social action programmes which support young people to cultivate a habit of service. But the opportunities children and young people get to help others must also be meaningful to them, as well as contribute to broader societal flourishing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Harrison receives funding from the John Templeton Foundation. He is affiliated with the Association for Character Education (ACE)</span></em></p>New research suggests people who start volunteering before age ten will keep doing so as they grow up.Tom Harrison, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/817072017-08-20T09:26:42Z2017-08-20T09:26:42ZSouth African social media is giving consumers power to discipline corporations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181168/original/file-20170807-16724-1ujy659.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 20 years after democracy it seems incredible that a leading South African insurance company, Outsurance would put out a <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/outsurance-roasted-over-offensive-fathers-day-video-9844428">Father’s Day advertisement</a> which featured mostly white dads. If their marketing team didn’t see the problem, citizens on social media certainly did and helped the company to see the <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/outsurance-blames-junior-employee-for-racist-fathersday-ad-9858825">error</a> of its ways – and fast.</p>
<p>Within hours of screening the advertisement, a twitter storm had broken out and the commercial was retracted. Outsurance issued an <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/06/18/outsurance-apologises-for-father-s-day-video">apology</a> for any offence caused. It was a quick and decisive response – which is generally the right way to respond in a crisis – spoiled only by the fact that the company subsequently laid the blame at the door of a “<a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/outsurance-blames-junior-employee-for-racist-fathersday-ad-9858825">junior lady</a>” on the social media team. </p>
<p>The Outsurance experience underlines the growing importance of social media in <a href="http://www.blurbpoint.com/blog/the-growing-importance-of-social-media-for-business/">branding</a>. Branding scholars Chiranjeev Kohli and Anuj Kapoor <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266377736_Will_social_media_kill_branding">point out</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This rapidly evolving landscape has left managers at a loss, and what they are experiencing is likely the beginning of a tectonic shift in the way brands are managed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Outsurance isn’t the only firm to have been caught in a social media storm. Uber’s CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to <a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-a-toxic-culture-like-ubers-requires-more-than-just-a-new-ceo-79102">step down</a> after a prolonged online assault leading to a “shareholder revolt”. London based public relations firm, Bell Pottinger, had to lock its twitter handle recently because it had been <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/07/07/in-memes-twitter-burns-bell-pottinger-over-apology">twitter bombed</a> by South Africans outraged at the firm’s service to the controversial Gupta family.</p>
<p>Another South African business, the family restaurant franchise Spur, suffered considerable <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-03-22-woman-in-spur-incident-explains-what-really-happened">brand damage</a> after a video showing an altercation between a (white) man and a (black) woman at a Johannesburg outlet went viral, causing a racially charged firestorm. Spur was castigated from different directions for mishandling the matter.</p>
<p>These cases show how social media gives consumers the ability to <a href="https://www.ama.org/publications/JournalOfMarketing/Pages/when-hostile-consumers-wreak-havoc-brand.aspx">influence business behaviour</a>. But, we argue, this power should be channelled in a constructive way to affect lasting change.</p>
<h2>A new kind of activism</h2>
<p>There are many <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222820715_Anti-branding_on_the_internet">examples</a> of deliberate online anti-brand behaviours targeting well-known brands such as American Express, Coca Cola, and Wal-Mart. Widely respected New York Times technology columnist Farhad Manjoo recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/technology/how-battling-brands-online-has-gained-urgency-and-impact.html">noted</a>, that online campaigns against brands have become a powerful force in business by handing power to consumers. It has also given birth to a new kind of political activism:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Posting a hashtag and threatening to back it up by withholding dollars can bring about a much quicker, more visible change in the world than, say, calling your representative.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is of course not good news to most corporations, businesses and politicians. Those operating in the public domain know the importance of protecting their reputation and fear the power of social media. Many organisations pay research companies for daily feedback on how their brand is perceived. In addition to newspaper clippings and magazine articles, they also have to sift through thousands of tweets and emails.</p>
<p>Not all negative comments deserve to be dealt with publicly. Some outrage may be the result of a vindictive individual or interest groups with less honourable intentions. Responding to comments such as these may only fan the fire, doing more harm than good.</p>
<p>But the power of social media is such that even a falsehood can cause immense damage, ruining businesses and individuals. Social media can awaken the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1470593114540677">mob mentality</a> in people. All that’s required is for people to become angry – and have access to a medium where they can be relatively anonymous and vent their fury.</p>
<p>Social media brings out the best and the worst in people. On the one hand, it gives the power to do untold damage. On the other it can be used to do tremendous good.</p>
<h2>Disciplining business</h2>
<p>Take the case of American airline United Airlines. The video of how security dragged <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/united-doctor-dragged-flight-settlement-david-dao">Dr David Dao</a> off a flight in April 2017 after he refused to leave his seat when he was selected to be bumped off due to overbooking went viral on the Internet.</p>
<p>Millions of people saw Dr Dao being dragged, bleeding and injured, off the plane. There was an enormous backlash from consumers slamming the airline – and other airlines – for the practice of overbooking.</p>
<p>The consequences of all the anger led to the airline revising its policy and operations and spilled over into wider investigations into general procedures at airlines. This resulted in new legislation being drafted in the US, which could prevent airlines from forcibly removing passengers seated on an overbooked flight and providing compensation for those not allowed to board. </p>
<h2>A double-edged sword</h2>
<p>Social media is here to stay – if anything its use is set to become more sophisticated. According to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2017/06/19/tapping-into-the-power-of-social-media/&refURL=https://www.google.com/&referrer=https://www.google.com/'">Pew Internet Research</a>, YouTube reaches more 18- to 34-year-olds than any cable network in the US, 76% of Facebook users visited the site daily last year with over 1.6 billion daily visitors, and 51% of Instagram users engage with the platform daily. These trends are spreading across the globe.</p>
<p>Users may also become more discerning about which sites they visit and how often. For companies, this means a need to remain vigilant and being aware of how to react appropriately. They undoubtedly stand to profit as well – through clever marketing campaigns that make use of social media platforms.</p>
<p>But the biggest winners could be consumers – should they learn to properly use the power of social media to organise into interest groups, define objectives and agree on courses of action – thereby exerting pressure on companies to see the kind of change in corporations that they would like to see in society as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81707/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media is here to stay and gives a platform to companies as well as consumers who hold the power to bring about change.Mlenga Jere, Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Cape TownRaymond van Niekerk, Adjunct Professor, with expertise in Branding, Marketing, Business Strategy, Corporate Citizenship and Social Responsibility. Graduate School of Business, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/676972016-10-26T06:29:22Z2016-10-26T06:29:22ZBusiness Briefing: being funny with customers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/143244/original/image-20161026-11275-vb66y0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Joking around with customers can improve satisfaction, as long as its the right jokes!</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zeetz Jones/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As part of a research team, Christine Mathies from the University of New South Wales Business School stood outside a suburban retailer (who had volunteered to be part of the study) and quizzed customers who came out on their experience and satisfaction. They knew one of the employees was a bit of a joker, and were trying to see whether humour made a difference to customers.</p>
<p>It turns out humour can be useful in increasing customer satisfaction, even if your customer is a grouch. But it’s only certain types of humour, Mathies says. If an employer jokingly brags or jokes about something else like the weather, that has better outcomes than making self-deprecating jokes. </p>
<p>In separate research, they also found humour can be good for the employees themselves, as it relieves tension in difficult situations and the stress of constant interaction with customers. </p>
<p>However, when it comes to service failures, they discovered employees should steer clear of using any jokes when offering apologies or compensation, as it comes across as inappropriate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
New research shows that humour can relieve tension for employees and increase customer satisfaction, just don't make jokes when it comes to offering apologies!Jenni Henderson, Section Editor: Business + EconomyLucy Majstorovic, Editorial Intern, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/649442016-09-20T18:13:58Z2016-09-20T18:13:58ZClass and race shape how young South Africans access the job market<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137233/original/image-20160909-13353-1zjafo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tankiso Motaung, an unemployed South African university graduate, takes his hunt for a job to the street in Johannesburg.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Star/Paballo Thekiso</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Getting hired in South Africa can be a serious challenge given the country’s unemployment rate of <a href="http://www.bdlive.co.za/economy/2016/07/28/economy-continued-to-shed-jobs-latest-report-shows-as-sa-heads-to-the-polls">26.6%</a> and a trend towards declining employment in the formal non-agricultural sector. </p>
<p>There are many possible routes job seekers can take as they seek to enter the workforce. Some are clearly marked out, facilitating a smooth transition. Others are not very clearly marked and are fraught with difficulty, leading to uncertainty and often significant personal hardship.</p>
<p>Individuals and groups access the labour market from different points of departure, depending on their skills, occupations, age, race and gender. This means that it’s not always useful, or accurate, to think about one labour market that operates in the same way for everyone.</p>
<p>Rather, there are many labour markets in which diverse factors such as geography (rural, urban), degree of formality (formal, informal) and political economy (centre, periphery) play a defining role.</p>
<p>We compared insights on this diversity and complexity across <a href="http://www.lmip.org.za/">a set of research projects conducted by the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership</a>. What we found was that social networks and inequality matter a lot in the world of job seekers. This suggests that there is a need for formal public mechanisms to ensure that there’s a fairer distribution of information for people looking for work. </p>
<h2>Inequality in higher education</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.lmip.org.za/document/pathways-through-university-and-labour-market-report-graduate-tracer-study-eastern-cape">study</a> traced the widely divergent journeys of graduates from two very different universities in South Africa. It followed 469 graduates from Rhodes University and 742 from University of Fort Hare through their degree programmes and into the labour market. </p>
<p>Most of the Rhodes graduates were white, and were more likely to have come from higher income homes and attended elite schools. Most of the Fort Hare graduates were black and were more likely than their Rhodes counterparts to be the first in their families to attend university.</p>
<p>The study found that the different groups used very different job search methods. For Rhodes graduates the most common path of finding employment was through personal networks (30%). Fort Hare graduates relied primarily on newspaper advertisements (36%).</p>
<p>The study concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This finding speaks volumes about the nature of links to the market and about the perpetuation of past sources of inequality in access to higher education and employment. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another <a href="http://www.lmip.org.za/sites/default/files/documentfiles/public%20attitudes%20work%20in%20south%20africa_1.pdf">study</a> of public attitudes to work found that work-seekers used a range of ways to access the labour market. Ninety percent of those surveyed said that social networks were the “most frequent” way to look for work. </p>
<p>This trend isn’t unique to South Africa. Research on job searching globally shows that for a while personal networks have been recognised as an efficient tool to use when looking for employment. </p>
<p>The study on attitudes to work and unemployment also found that job seekers from rural areas were more likely to rely on informal networks, talking to relatives and friends. It notes that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the inaccessibility of information about vacancies supplied through formal sources is a barrier to finding employment. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>How do formal public systems contribute?</h2>
<p>How then do formal public employment services in South Africa measure up, to promote transitions to the labour market? </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.lmip.org.za/sites/default/files/documentfiles/HSRC%20LMIP%20ESSA%20Report%20Proof%208_0.pdf">study</a> done in 2015 looked at employer interaction with a government-funded <a href="https://essa.labour.gov.za/EssaOnline/WebBeans/?wicket:bookmarkablePage=wicket-0:za.gov.labour.essa.web.online.MainHomePage">employment service</a> that matches job seekers to employers. The research found that job seekers used a diversity of search methods.</p>
<p>Subscribing companies filled 56% of all their vacancies with work seekers registered on the system. But the service is hampered by a range of obstacles including poor infrastructure, which leads to incomplete records being kept, and network failures that make the system painfully slow. This affects its reliability. </p>
<p>These barriers effect the extent to which both employers and work seekers rely on the system as a route to the labour market. </p>
<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>Social networks remain a default method of job search for many South Africans across the labour market spectrum. But the ability to access social networks is shaped unequally by the education, class and race background. This is particularly the case for high-skills jobs that require a university qualification.</p>
<p>For job seekers living in poor rural areas social networks are less helpful. This is why formal public mechanisms are important, particularly for those looking for low-level skilled jobs. </p>
<p>To promote more efficient job search strategies at all levels, the quality and accessibility of formal labour market information needs to be raised significantly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64944/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenda Kruss receives funding from the National Skills Fund through the Department of Higher Education and Training.</span></em></p>Many young South Africans struggle to get a job due to the high levels of unemployment. But access to information, which is influenced by race and class, increases the chances of getting employed.Glenda Kruss, Doctor, Human Sciences Research CouncilLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.