Final Blog Post

      So, it is finally coming to an end. 15 weeks of posting blogs. It seems like not so long ago we were all on week two and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to keep up with all of the work required for this class. Yet, now I am glad I did. Honestly, I feel like I have learned so much about the world of public relations and social media. I have learned that it is much more than likes, shares, comments or anything else out there that is visible by every user. It is numbers, hard work and a lot of planning. Like a lot of planning. Nonetheless, I feel as if I could legitimately see myself working in this kind of field. Honestly, there were times throughout the semester where I truly considered switching majors to work in a field like this because I find it so appealing. Thus, I think I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who would be willing to take it. Because it seems like a lot of work right when you start the class, people will not want to take it. Although, once you get into the groove of everything you come to realize it is nothing more than a weekly Associated Press style quiz and some blog posts that you have to make sure are timed out properly. Also, the professor is super cool which is always a bonus. In summation, I am more than happy that I took this class and I am thankful to all of you who have read my blogs. Hopefully, I get to see some of you in my future classes.

The Greatness of Social Media

      Well, it does not sadden me to say that this will be my last blog post about social media. Honestly, it is pretty difficult to come up with things to talk about revolving around social media every week. So, this week I am just going to talk about how great social media is as a whole because as crazy as it sounds, I'm not sure that I've talked about that yet. Social media is awesome. Truly, I don't know what I would do without it. The way that is has the ability to connect you with anyone in the world at any time is just crazy. Think about it, before social media there was no way to keep up with your cousin who lives across the country without giving them a dreaded phone call that we all know would end up lasting way too long. They would tell you everything about what has been going on in their life, and they would give you way too much unneeded information. Yet, with social media all you have to do it just scroll through their post and only read what you feel the need to read. Additionally, it allows you to keep up with people who you would have never been able to keep up with before. Namely, celebrities. I mean, before social media there is no way I would have been able to see what the Kardashians do on a daily basis. Now, I can. That is amazing.

Dead Week

      Oh how I can't wait for the semester to be over. I know that I talked about this last week, but I swear I still have the same amount of work now that I did last week even though I have done a lot of homework since then. It really is just a never ending pile of projects, papers and anything else professors decide to stack on top. However, this is the last week so I suppose that stack will dwindle down to nothing here soon. Or, I will decide to turn none of it in and take a big, fat L. Probably not that, but maybe. I mean hey, you never know what the end of the semester may bring. For all I know, this whole college thing could turn out to be one long drawn out joke and I get to go home and never come back after this week. Once again, probably not, but maybe. On a more serious note though, I did exactly what I said I shouldn't do last week. I got to the library ready to work. My brain juices were flowing and I had a plan set in motion of everything I needed to get done. Then, I decided I would take a second before I started working and just take a quick "peak" at TikTok. Fast forward an hour later and I haven't started anything. So, now I must go make up for lost time. Woe is me.

End of the Semester Blues

      It seems that with the end of the semester rearing its ugly head all of us students are so close to Christmas break. We only have like 400 projects each to get through. Well, that may be a little hyperbolic. I suppose it is more like 399. Seriously, I am sure that everyone feels the same way I do, and I am sure that some feel it even more than I do. For example, I have one class in particular in which I have three projects to get done before the end of next week. Now, could I have been working on some of the projects earlier? Sure, but that is not the point. I am the victim here. We, as in us students, are the victims here. We are the innocent who are getting played like a fiddle. Well, all jokes aside I truly do have a lot of work and I swear every time I check moodle there is something else that has just been added to my long list of things to do. Granted, I know that it would be in my best interest to not be on my phone for five plus hours a day constantly texting, checking TikTok, looking through Instagram or seeing the latest on my Twitter feed. However, I can't help it. School work just has a way of being boring, and that isn't my fault. So, once I finish this blog post I will probably get sucked back into the wormhole of social media and blame my teachers for piling on too much work. It's the common problem of the college student.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

      I truly love this time of year. There is snow falling outside, Christmas trees being put up in houses and all kinds of holiday cheer being spread around. Yet, there is one thing that still tops everything else around the holiday season. That is none other than social media. During this time, social media truly reaches an absolute high. There are just so many memes and funny videos floating around that it is ridiculous. For example, it is almost exam time for just about every student in the country. Therefore, you get to see all kinds of funny memes about how much students hate exams, or hate studying for their exams. Also, there is an increased use of cell phones because students are trying to procrastinate at all costs in order to somehow try and avoid their inevitable doom. Additionally, I also love getting on my phone and seeing the posts about people who make the videos of waking up on the first of December because those are always hilarious and relatable. On top of all of that, people have to be on their phones more because they are stuck inside because it is colder than taking an ice bath in the North Pole outside. Well, especially in Ada. In conclusion, this time of year is the greatest time of all for social media and I can't get enough of it. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Textbook Review

      The textbook "Social Media for Strategic Communication" was a great read. We read it for class and I can honestly say it was very helpful. It contained a lot of great insights into the world of social media and how we, if it it should be our future line of work, can prepare for it. Also, the author presented the information in a way that was very easy to read and understand. One of my personal favorite chapters of the entire book was Chapter 6 where the author talked about building a strategic plan for social media. It really proved to me how much work goes into the world of social media. I know that I talk about this a lot, but I think it deserves more attention because I believe that most people are under the impression that those who work in the media field have an easy life with little to no work. However, that is not the case at all. For example, building a strategic plan for social media is a lot harder than people might think. It takes weeks of research, looking at analytics, finding a target audience, creating a brand voice and then deciding how to best go about creating the most ideal content for each platform you are using. Needless to say, it is much more than posting pictures with clever captions, and this book really allows you to see the world of social media in its entirety and all of the nuances that go along with it. So, I think it's great.

Numbers For Social Media

      During class on Tuesday my professor gave an interesting lecture. She talked about how many people assume that people who deal with social media accounts don't have to worry about numbers. Those things are left to the mathematicians of the world to boil down and put into the pot that is data analytics. However, this isn't necessarily the case. Even though most people may assume that social media strategists, as I will call them, do not deal with numbers, they do. There is actually a lot more analyzing than you may originally think. For almost every post you have to deal with numbers that go beyond likes, shares or retweets that are visible to anyone on social media. There is background information for every single piece of content and most people do not know this. For example, there are social media tools out there that will allow you to look at how many people have clicked on a post, and what kind of traffic each post you have is generating. Who is seeing the post? Who is liking the post? What kind of posts are statistically doing better than others? These are all factors that have to be put into consideration when you are managing multiple social media accounts. Thus, even though people who run social media pages may not be rocket scientist they still have to deal with more numbers than you might think.