The Sides of Media

Introduction: Hi, I’m Paige and I’ve been taking graphic design classes at NWTC for about a year and a half now. I want to get into the designing and printing side of things. I like to do it for fun so I might as well get paid to do so. I also love photography so I’ve been doing some classes on that as well. Social media has always been in my life so clearly it’s a big part of it.

My AH-HA Moment: When I started this Social Media Marketing class, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I know enough about social media and have learned about media marketing somewhat. I didn’t think there was much to it. But now that I’ve been reading into it and watching videos, I’ve learned I was very wrong. In a podcast I listened to, the lady they were interviewing was talking about Tik Tok and I’m quite interested in that topic so I found it fun to listen to. She was explaining how she started off on the app just dancing and what not but the more she watched the more she realized a lot of people are marketing on that app. That’s what she did for a living so she thought she’d just give it a try. She got a very positive response to that. People kept asking for advice on how to build their brand and what to add. So her business took off! I found that amazing that just this app that seems to be run by dancing and singing is a huge marketing tool. Many other people are using it that way and growing exponentially. I love seeing that. There are so many talented people out there we may have never heard of if it wasn’t for Tik Tok. It blew my mind what people have accomplished. It made me rethink how much I thought I knew about marketing. There are hundreds of ways you can market your brand or products, but social media definitely has to be one of them if you want to be successful these days.

Importance of Social media Professionally: I have not had a job that I have really needed to use social media much, but right now I work at Starbucks and you would not believe how many people I have come in and ask for drinks off Tik Tok or some other social media. People all over the USA have been getting drinks inspired by other people’s ideas. Granted, I work at Starbucks so I can experiment all I want and see people’s ideas so I know how to make them. It has definitely made a big impact on the coffee industry. I’m a big coffee drinker but I was never too into Starbucks itself until I started working there myself. I personally don’t think the hype would be as huge if it weren’t for social media. So that has probably really helped the company. I see other companies just like Starbucks but they’re not as successful, why? Starbucks doesn’t just sell coffee, they sell the brand name. People like well known brands and brand named items. Starbucks definitely became a huge competitor and that’s because they did something and everyone copied, yet they get more publicity with everyone coming up with new drinks and rating them in videos and so on. Social media makes the biggest difference. Like I’ve said before, you either make something new or do the same thing as everyone else but better. I’m not planning on making a business even though I’ve had some intrusive thoughts about it late at night, but I do know that the direction I’m going in my career is going to still include social media to some degree. Almost everything does now. You can’t be a company and not have a website. You can’t sell your products without getting your name out there. I know that I would like to get into designing or printing and either one of those directions will at some point lead to advertising and/or marketing. Which again, you will definitely need to be online for. It may seem repetitive or redundant but the times are changing and a lot of the older generation isn’t keeping up or wanting the change. I’ve noticed that even in the jobs I have had. I’ve been in retail mostly and just the ApplePay or chip readers have surprised them and they don’t want to learn how to use it. Or just being able to solve a quick problem with the touch of a button on their phone but they refuse to do so. Yes, they didn’t grow up with it and it may be confusing but everyone has to be open to new things and learning. That’s how people stay up to date and successful. Just at least knowing what’s going on and the basics helps greatly. I am always open to learning new things and I think that’ll definitely help me with my career choice. That’s what I enjoy most; the always changing and never ending of it all. You never lose interest and there’s always more coming to look forward to. So, yeah I’m not in the job I would like to be but I still see the media all around.

Importance of social media Personally: So I have clearly grown up with social media, it’s just the norm to me now. The first form of social media I was allowed to have was Facebook. I’m not a big fan of it honestly. I have it right now simply because that’s how I keep in touch with a lot of people. There’s just so much negativity and fake news on Facebook that I just hate seeing all the time, it makes the world out seem like it’s grey and there’s no good left. That’s nowhere near true. Yes there’s so much crap going on at the moment but you have to have some positivity in your life. It’s your life, so live it. Not in fear like the News wants you to. Things happen and I just don’t enjoy seeing it posted all over social media. I’d rather be out in the woods hiking and being in nature rather than sitting on Facebook depressed because of reading nothing but negative after negative post since that’s all anyone wants to share nowadays. I’m not against social media though. I do have to admit I have a slight addiction to Tik Tok. I get so many cool ideas on new songs and organization tips. You can learn so much from it and there are so many people on there. So many people are there just giving advice and spreading body positivity. I love seeing that. People aren’t afraid to share who they really are because they’ve just become that comfortable. In a world dealing with Covid right now, that’s been a great way to not feel as alone and to still connect to the world and not see anything to do with the news. You can also just meet new people, make friends. Making connections. People put their music and art on Tik Tok and it’s all amazing. People get recognized and others can sell their work. It’s just been such a popular platform and will continue to grow. I personally don’t post on it but I love to scroll through it. I do like to take photos and I used to post them a lot. I got good feedback and grew confidence due to that. I’ve had people ask me to do their photoshoots and have worked with a professional photographer which helped me out tremendously. Many people have used social media as an out. To get away from the real world and just enjoy the one through their screen. So why not have it be a positive experience? Social media is always changing and evolving, I’ve found that to be really interesting. You have to keep up with the times or you get forgotten. There’s always going to be competition so you either have to be the best or come up with something completely different. Be the first one. These days, I’d imagine that’d be hard to do because there’s just so many apps that do the same thing as the next. It’s a dog eat dog world out there. I’m always surprised and amazed when they add new things. But usually right after that, everyone copies. I’ve seen that more than once. I like to find new things to do or be inspired by, so I like to look on Pinterest. I’m definitely a DIYer. So it’s perfect for me. I haven’t seen but I haven’t really looked for another app that compares to it. I’ve gone all over the place with these apps and my feelings on them, but I swear I have a point. Social media definitely has its downfalls, but the perks are just as plentiful. It may show the very negative side of everything and that’s what gets shared the most, but it also brings people together and lets people go after dreams they may not have achieved without it. There is a majority of people in this generation who struggle with anxiety and depression issues. They may have issues with people and talking with them. So having a way to communicate and converse over a screen or through an app has really helped those people. It can also make things much easier like for example, applying for jobs. You just fill it out online. Or there’s keeping track of things with reminders and apps that let you know when things are due or need to be done. I know I’m a forgetful person so having my phone remind me of things has helped me A TON! So again, I’m not against social media, there’s a lot I love and connect with honestly. There’s just always a down side and I do my best to avoid it.

“Don’t use Social Media to impress people,

Use it to impact people”

Dave Willis

Links: Tik Tok Podcast and Personal Branding Video

TikTok Content Marketing: How to Grow Your Business With TikTok

Personal Branding Examples With Dennis Yu & Logan Young

Conclusion: There’s many people out there that use social media as an outlet but there’s also a lot that use it to seem better than everyone else. There’s many sides of social media and hopefully you all find the more positive ones. This generation is known to be more anxious and depressed than any others and the majority is tied to social media. I hope that one day that statistic goes away or at least goes down. Social media is such a great tool in the right hands and I think we’ll get to the point of seeing it that way, wether it be in my lifetime or not.