Reflecting Back

Before this Ales 204 class, the extent of my social media usage went as far as Facebook. The thought of utilizing social media in a professional way as a tool had never really crossed my mind. I mean really, I use Facebook as a way to see pictures from a party last weekend so how could it be used for anything that’s not on a personal level? Well, this communication class has definitely opened my eyes and broadened my perspective on this issue and not just with regards to professionalism – I didn’t realize how many social media sites there actually were out there. I knew of Twitter and swore to myself I would never get it; to me it was simply a rehash of Facebook status updates and I certainly don’t need to know the little mundane things going on in people’s lives that they for some reason want to talk about. However, if I think back of my thoughts and opinions of social media the very first day of class and consider where those opinions are today, I am surprised to say how much they have grown and have come to appreciate social media not just as a way of personal communication but as a tool ready and able to be used in the professional world.

Throughout the term we were introduced to various topics on social media and the Internet, and were exposed to different social media sites. We learned of Flickr as a great way of sharing pictures and gained some insight on various copyright laws. We discovered LinkedIn, where we could network and display ourselves in a professional way. Facebook was introduced in a new light as we were shown how it could be used professionally and as a way to put ourselves out there in a way suitable to the working world. The biggest one though was of course Twitter. From day one it was used as participation and to keep updated with others in the class. This idea of using Twitter in class had never been brought up in any other one of my classrooms but it certainly had a huge impact in this one. As I said before, I was dead against Twitter. Almost four months later, my opinion has done a complete turn around and I actually now quite enjoy it as it’s not just simply useless updates about things I don’t need to know. I can connect with experts in my field of interest, use hashtags to find common ground with others, and can even follow along with the news. This is a tool that goes beyond this class and is something that I will definitely keep using. Wordle is another site introduced, one that creates a word cloud from whatever you put in and the more a word is mentioned, the bigger it is. Using this professionally could prove very useful, as it could help one to understand what it is that an employer, for example, is looking for or what kind of message a resume is giving. I even used this on my own blog posts. Between my thoughts on social media in my very first introductory post to those of this post, the word clouds show very different messages and are a very visual way of showing just how my thoughts on social media and communication have changed.

Word cloud of my first introductory post. Screen shot taken by Hillary Banack of word cloud, created from http://www.wordle.net/

Word cloud of this final post. Screen shot taken by Hillary Banack of word cloud, created from http://www.wordle.net/

Social media wasn’t the only thing discussed in this course. Different aspects of the academic and professional world were introduced. Public speaking is a major part of pretty much anything nowadays and tips were discussed which will be very helpful for other classes and life beyond university. Pecha Kucha for example is great new way of doing presentations. Resumes and CV building provided important skills that I will use later on. Learning about Wikipedia and its unreliability definitely showed me how what is written on the Internet cannot always be taken for truth. Searching out peer reviewed articles, how to effectively read an academic paper, and proper referencing were a few aspects pertaining to our academics that was well applied to assignments in this class as well as others. The ability to be critically literate, as Javsveer discussed in her blog, is very important and something I hadn’t really considered before. And of course, various aspects of professionalism and how to use this in the working world as well as personally will probably save me from making quite a few mistakes in the future.

This blog and blogging itself is also a social media tool and is one that has become part of my life. I had never really considered myself ever becoming a blogger; I mean, I’m not really all that great at writing and what do I have to say about anything anyways? Well as it turns out, a lot actually. I find it to be a great way to give my thoughts on a particular subject or share new things going on with myself. It is not just a place where I can write and people can read; it is interactive. People can read and comment back; I can click on their link and be introduced to new thoughts and ideas. From there, I can click a link to another blog or site mentioned. It is an endless way of connecting with other individuals. I can even comment and share my own thoughts, just as I have done on Meaghan’s, Sara’s, Nicole’s, Rosie’s, and Becky’s blogs. If it wasn’t for this class, I would have never created a blog or come to see the great benefits of not only writing a blog, but reading other blogs out there. Although I may not always be able to make a new post every week, I know that this blog of mine will not end with this class.