This class was unlike many of the other classes I have taken. In no other class have we seriously talked about memes or Instagram. They are things we are all aware of as existing but not normally considered as tools. This class understood the importance of emerging social trends and interests and helped us to understand how they could be used. This class held many benefits and contained many things I enjoyed.
We were responsible for reading three books over the course of the semester. Overall, I did not hate the books. There parts and times in the book when I did not necessarily enjoy them, but I didn’t hate them as a whole. The first book was a great beginning. While I was aware of the majority of social media platforms and their abilities, it was a nice overview and introduction to the class. It covered many topics in a short span of time and contained a lot of common knowledge. That being said, it also had a new trick or tip to learn for every platform in every chapter. There was always something to learn, so while some of the reading seemed tedious, it wasn’t without benefit. The second book had humor but contained more unknown matter to learn than the first book. While slightly outdated in some areas, the information was still relevant. The information was delivered in a way I could easily understand and learn from. I believe these books were very well chosen and should continue to be taught in the class, especially if new editions were released.
While probably my least favorite aspect of the class, blogging is the absolute best way to relate the class to the outside world. Yes, creating a Pinterest board and live tweeting allowed us to directly interact with different platforms, but being forced to write three blogs every week pushed us to improve our writings skills that will allow us to best interact with an audience. It also forced us to apply the topics and ideas we’ve been reading about. We had to be able to understand the best ways to engage an audience and keep their attention so they would pay attention to what we were writing. I did not always enjoy it, but I understand and appreciate its value.
I may no longer be taking social media classes and going for the minor, but these skills are necessary for our technology and social media-based world. If we want to be successful and thrive in our futures, we need to be able to understand how to navigate what’s important to our audience. This class, ultimately, helped to guide us in the right direction.
