A reflection on all things social media and PR…..
As a millennial I have grown up with the ever-evolving social media platforms. It seems like an easy task for brands to be able to hire someone to be their social media- savvy manager today. I mean social savviness is a skill most of us possess. However, it my opinion I feel like many people are ignorant to the permanence of their social media presence. many people don’t know how to utilize their presence in social to benefit themselves. I feel like many kids don’t understand the permanence of the internet and the fact that what they grow up posting on Facebook and Youtube will be around to haunt them as college graduates looking for jobs. On the flip side social media is a great way to position yourself in your desired work field, on platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. Through my recent social media for PR class I learned so many new and effective ways to interact with professionals on Twitter. I had no idea how many successful individuals were fully utilizing Twitter, when it first came out I thought it was just something celebrities did. While I have had a Twitter account before the class, I used it more for friend connections. Now that I have learned how to interact on Twitter and have a better understanding of what to look for and who to look for I have a whole new perspective on my Twitter mission. However, social media is always changing and highly competitive. I am reminded of this when I check my Facebook and notice the constant changes on my newsfeed. Some changes I like, and others I could live without. Yet, I always adjust because in the world of social media that is what we consumers do. While I feel comfortable networking on Twitter and Facebook. The area of blogging I learned this semester is something that is still new to me. As an adult I know very littler bloggers, besides my fellow classmates. While I have met many in the career fields I have interned at, I haven’t found many personal bloggers I know. My blogging preference would be to find a platform that is super user friendly and a topic I could never ever get tired of blogging about. In my opinion the Word Press site we used this semester was pretty straight forward. I believe picking a layout was the most difficult part of the entire process. I think as a student I feel vulnerable blogging and a little insecure. I mean I am only an expert is certain areas and being that I am still in school PR is not one of them. So to really sit back and take note of brand social media efforts this semester taught me a lot about what to look forward to in a career field based on public reputation. Some brands have even reached back out to me this semester and I thought that was amazing! It also reminded me how visible you become as a blogger/tweeter. I feel like there is great potential in this field of blogging. And I am going to take my baby steps and accomplishments this semester in stride. I hope to continue to blog and further understand the process of public reputation online. I hope to continue to learn. And I hope that the information I have learned throughout this class will allow me to further myself online. The world of PR is also an area I am not an expert in…yet. But I have learned a lot of many online do’s and don’ts that would be a PR agencies worst nightmare. All the companies I have looked at have great a great PR presence online and I am sure the social media blogger and PR director work close by in many of these offices. Overall, social media will continue to change on me and I will continue to adjust. Additionally, blogging is a little out of my comfort zone but I am getting the hang of it, and actual like it. Finally, PR can be a difficult job when social media isn’t utilized the right way.
Thanks for reading one last reflection on this class.
Until we meet again…