Oh, How Much I've Learned About Social Media!

Before taking a social media class, I believed that I had a pretty strong understanding of how social media platforms functioned within society. However, having taken a class designed to investigate the basics of how apps operate and their intended purpose, I discovered that I did not know as much as I had previously assumed. I had no idea about all the planning and strategizing that is essential to creating successful content and reaching a desired audience. To be completely honest, I had never heard of content calendars before this class. I had always assumed that people were physically online and posting exactly at that specific time, not scheduling posts in advance. Content calendars are one of the most beneficial tools that people and businesses utilize, not only to upload content at a certain time across various platforms, but also to save time making posts.

Just like any business or company you may work for, social media platforms also rely on advertising and building a strong reputation for themselves. Each app that you come across is distinct and has its own attributes that separate the rest. For instance, some have features that allow you to integrate content from another account into yours, like TikTok has "Stitches." Although every social media platform has its own unique characteristics and qualities that shape its identity, they all have in common attributes that users can engage with, such as likes, followers and subscribers, comments, and the ability to share content with others. These features, as well as views and hashtags, help platforms create an algorithm that recommends certain content based on what users have previously shown interest in by interacting with. 

As social media continues to grow and businesses turn to these platforms as a top marketing resource, I am glad that I took a social media class. As a student who is about to graduate with a bachelor's degree in graphic design, I found numerous things that I learned throughout the semester from the class that I can apply to whatever job I find post-graduation. The marketing strategies, such as building your own personal brand and remaining consistent across all platforms, will be extremely useful throughout my career. Looking into the future, I hope to continue to learn more about a few social media platforms, specifically Instagram and TikTok, and how they continue to evolve to keep users present on the platform.