"Three Things I Learned from Social Media Class"

This social media class was one of the highlights of my semester because I learned many practical things that will be valuable for my future career. This class was challenging but enjoyable, and I appreciated the hands-on learning experiences such as our client project. I now have more confidence in my ability to understand,  market, and use social media for business and I am looking forward to using what I learned in my future career.

Lesson 1: Social Media Marketing.

The first thing that I learned in this class was the depth of social media marketing- it goes far beyond just creating and posting content. It involves everything from target audience research, style and colors, brand objectives and voice, content pillars, monitoring engagement and comments, tracking analytics, boosting content, investing in advertisements, and the list keeps going! It is easy to glance at brands with millions of followers and assume that they have always been that way, but many of them started from nothing and it took hard work, consistency, and a well-researched social media plan to get to their level of success. Although social media marketing is a lot more complicated than I initially realized, this class gave me enough confidence to consider starting up a social media brand for my small business and see where it leads me!

Lesson 2: Career and Boundaries.

I took this class with the intention of using social media to market my small business when I graduate. However, my manager recently asked me if I would start working on the bookstore’s socials next semester and I also decided to restart my business’s social media brand in the summer of 2024. Beyond all of the technical things taught in this class, I found the experiences shared by guest speakers about managing social media especially honest and helpful. They all highlighted the importance of setting proper boundaries before starting social media as a job.  As a full-time college student working two jobs and still maintaining my life and time with church, family, and friends, I already have a lot on my plate. Starting social media for the bookstore and my business is going to be a great learning experience for me though. Thanks to what I have learned, I am going to set some boundaries that will help me to stay consistent without letting it take over my life, otherwise, it is not going to be worth it. 

Lesson 3: The Power of Social Media.

Another thing that I learned in this class was understanding the power of social media and the impact it has on us and our future generations. The social media fast was an eye-opening experience for me because I realized that I purposefully distracted myself on my phone whenever I felt slightly bored or uncomfortable. Since my fast, I tried setting more limits on my phone and social media, but I am already back into my old habits. I am determined to change though because I know that I am missing out on so much of real-life experiences, happiness, and relationships with the people around me. Social media can never replace face-to-face conversations and relationships with people. Sadly, our phones are starting to be the things that disconnect us from the real world instead of connecting us with each other like they were originally made for.