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COM 460 Course Reflection

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After taking COM 460 this semester I feel more prepared to graduate and enter a social media field I am excited to be a part of. The course had so many diverse topics, assignments, and discussions that really brought the class up to date on a wide range of criteria affecting the world around us. But at the same time, there were some areas that presented challenges from a student perspective. All together the experience in COM 460 Social Media & Mobile Technologies in Strategic Communications was made so enjoyable because it covered such a broad range of topics.

 

LIKES

I like the guest lecture aspect especially as a way to illustrate potential in the social media market. Dennis Yu was a person who exemplified to me (a communications major graduating at the end of the course) what I could do with my degree. While Im not entirely set on social media as a career, the guest lectures showed me what the industry is like. Conducting Skype and in-class guest lecture also made the course engaging because it broke up the PowerPoint-presented course material, which can get a little hectic. Overall, I was very impressed with the caliber and success level of the guest lecturers. Hearing of their success greatly increased my optimism of entering the working world after graduation.

Taking the course and absorbing  the material made me more conscious of the influence social media has on other aspects of life. I found myself paying closer attention to how strategic planning is used in things like sports and marketing. Hashtags and Twitter handles gained my attention as a major way of linking things together across social media.

Twitter use was another aspect I came to enjoy using in terms of the course progression. Before taking COM 460, I had never set up a Twitter account but now Im glad I did. Although I have come to like Twitter for its capabilities, I still enjoy Instagram more because I prefer visuals to reading text. Twitter did show me a new way of participating in class discussion that I did not have prior to this course. I liked being able to simply follow the #Freberg13 hashtag to see the class discussion in a new way. I think using Twitter in the classroom allows for students like myself to better express themselves by sharing relevant topics in a way that doesn’t necessarily feel like classwork.

 

DISLIKES

There was, however, one major dislike about the COM 460 course: Hootsuite University Certification. I know, I know, it is really helpful for marketing contact with potential customers, but I don’t have any potential customers. Plus, I kind of like using my device to switch from social media app to social media app. Part of the main reason I bought my phone was to enjoy the app interface, not to just keep one Hootsuite app open for all feeds. Plus, the Hootsuite University program is a little too in-depth sometimes. I don’t think managing the color of my outgoing e-mails tab will have a huge impact on whether or not I get a job offer using it later in my career. If I was to make a suggestion for future classes it would be to exclude Hootsuite Certification as a requirement. It is a good example of a social media analytics monitoring tool, but it’s a little too in-depth for the course. I found completing Hootsuite very difficult to complete along with two weekly blogs, Twitter participation, taking notes, and work for other classes.

Overall, the semester was a great learning experience for me. The course really got me excited about the employment opportunities available in social media. The mobile app and social media campaign projects, although challenging, I know will prove useful in some way later down the road. For a 400-level course, the pace was quick, yet I was still able to learn a great deal. The experience as a whole opened my eyes to how so much of the traditional human interface and marketing is changing due to social media impacts.



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