My Reflections of Social Media

(Image from Pinterest)

I cannot believe this semester is almost over.  Where did the time go?  I am pretty sure this semester went by so quickly because I have really enjoyed my classes, especially social media.  This is a class that is not like any other class and I actually have people question me when I tell them I am working on something for social media.  The looks I get from people are priceless because so many of them had no clue that social media could be a class and is a class at the University of Louisville.

I have learned so much from this class, not just about social media, but about myself as well.  We spent time learning about online reputation and had a paper to write about what we found. I learned that I am pretty responsible about what I share online. I also learned about many other aspects of social media like how brands use it to their benefit and are able to pull data to be able to tell if a campaign they are running is successful.  We had to keep a blog throughout the semester which is good for me because I am interested in pursuing a career in this field. I am not going to lie, I was a little stressed about it starting out because it was something I wasn't comfortable doing, but now I am comfortable blogging and plan to continue a personal one. This is the class that Hootsuite University was assigned in as well.  I have learned so much through that program. You can read the blog I posted about it if you are interested in learning more. I was clueless before this class at the potential social media had and what was all capable with it, but the possibilities are endless and ever-changing.

The big project we have for this class is a social media campaign for a client that we have worked on all semester in groups. My group consists of 5 girls, including myself and our client is Glow Go! 5K race that is being held in July.  Through this project I have learned hands-on how to set up a proposal for clients on how to reach more people while improving their social media presence.  It has really been an interesting adventure with these girls and it is not over yet.  The end of the semester we have to present our proposal to the clients, but we are learning more about that next week.  This is definitely a class that I would recommend to anybody enrolled at the University of Louisville.

(Image from @GlowGo5K twitter profile)

My Thoughts on Hootsuite University

Before this semester I was pretty clueless about the potential of social media for businesses.  My professor assigned the class Hootsuite University as one of the projects and I am so happy she did.  Hootsuite University is a place anybody can go to learn more about social media.  They offer a social media course that once completed you become a Certified Social Media Consultant which is what my professor assigned us to complete.  I have been working on my certification and am so close to being done.  I cannot wait until I can add this to my resume.

 While working on Hootsuite University I have found that is a little difficult to keep your interest.  It is compiled of short videos ranging from 1 minute to 25 minutes and are so full of information it is hard to retain it all.  It really isn't at all interactive which is something I consider valuable to learning, but it is a pretty easy course so far. Since the videos are short it is easier to watch one a couple times without taking too much time which is what I have been doing.  The exams are set up so you can take them more than once and you have to score a 100% before it is considered complete. The only thing I would change about this course is making it more interactive.  I once took a computer class that before you could move on to the next video you had to complete a mock version of what the video taught you.  It wasn't until you completed this so many times did it unlock the next video.  I think it would be beneficial for Hootsuite to implement some form of interactivity to give you more of a reason to pay attention. I am one that learns from interactive hands-on tools, especially when it is an online course.

I have learned a lot from Hootsuite University also.  I like how they break down every section for the top social media sites, like Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Some of these social media sites I was unfamiliar with, but because of Hootsuite's class I am learning more about social media than I ever thought possible. It is because of the class and this course that I am excited about social media and excited about what this certification will bring my way.