he focus of my note for this issue is on new media and the role that HR may play in this world. I was inspired by one of this issue's articles on employee blogging, which addresses one new form of communication that can be used in organizations, not just by managers but by any worker. I use the term new media to refer to communications via the Internet or other types of electronic services. This may include social networks, blogging, the latest Twitter mania, e-mail, text messaging, or other ways to post information and communicate.
One could argue that all of our articles in this issue deal with the topic of communications in some way. One study, for example, addresses managers and how they think they can influence stock price. From the other papers, we can also derive that the effectiveness of any link in an organization is a function of communications in some way. This includes managing communciations with different types of employees (for example, contingent works and MBA interns as studied in this issue's articles) as well as cross-cultural challenges and work-family conflicts. In all of these situations, we deal with the ongoing work of listening, hearing, and communicating with employees via formal or informal HR practices, leader interactions, or peer transactions. And, as the world of new media continues to emerge, we take the topic of communications to a new level. Communication now involves faster connections and different platforms for writing, speaking,