What have I learned?

I have learned a lot through this course. I have learned that there are so many social media sites out there that we don’t use to our advantage. I’ve been so stuck on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr so long that I’ve failed to realize that WordPress, LinkedIn, and YouTube are also great ways to connect to people.

When it comes to Facebook, I’ve always thought of it as more for people connecting, and not businesses. But our guest speaker Nathan showed us how to use Facebook for business since you want to “be where your customers are.” I now run the Facebook page for my job, Chow Time. It’s starting off slow, but every website I’ve looked at, and even Nathan, said it would happen that way.

I’ve learned that communication between businesses and customers is so important, and it’s moving more and more towards social media. While studying the Georgia Aquarium on Facebook, I noticed that people asked every day for ticket prices and specials. These things are clearly listed on the Aquarium’s website, but people want a faster response. They want things to be easier for them, so instead of searching for answers, they simply ask. Response time is a big deal, as well as attitude.

If I added anything to this course, I’d say to teach us how to use the social media sites that we haven’t used before. It’s easy to jump right onto a website that’s required for class and not know what you’re doing. I did it with LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. But once I got the hang of it, they were helpful. In my opinion, it just took too long for me to get the hang of it, and if I’d have learned sooner, I think they would have been more beneficial.

I interviewed with a potential job over this semester and they were extremely impressed with my knowledge and background with social media. Thank you, Mrs. Groover!