I don’t know how it happened, but I think it was in week 4, half way through the course, when I realized I was kind of enjoying myself while I was taking notes listening to podcasts. I use social media daily but I feel guilty for it because I’m in that age group where I didn’t grow up with it but I feel like I should know how to use it to be able to function in society (eye-roll).
I like social media because I can stay connected with my family and friends and see their pictures but I get annoyed and frustrated and have taken weeks long hiatus’s from Facebook. If I see one more person complaining about the weather, their boyfriend, or how “no one ever wants to do anything anymore,” I’m going to puke.
The last thing I wanted to do was take a deep dive into something I felt so negative about but as I got started and was FORCED to watch these podcasts, which if you can’t tell I was dreading, I realized I was wanting to know more. I seemed to choose podcasts about podcasting. Never thought I would enjoy such a topic! I’ve come to realize that one day I might want to give this a try myself.
I have no idea what I would talk about or if I’d be any good at it. I like doing my own DIY stuff, like crafts, painting, repurposing furniture, making my own skincare and haircare products… maybe I could do videos of myself trying stuff for the first time? Or perhaps doing DIY stuff around my house. Like fixing a running toilet or changing the oil in my lawnmower. I’ve never done those things before and I think it would be kind of fun to wing-it while recording. Like when I replastered my kitchen walls (long story). It was sketchy at times but overall it worked out. It was really no big deal that I put three giant holes in wall and had to buy drywall to fix it (again, long story). I wouldn’t mind making videos or doing this stuff and showing others that it’s okay to try things you’ve never done before. And in turn, they could learn how to do something, or what NOT to do.
Anyways! A few expert sessions that I learned from and will remember are…
How to Generate 1000’s of Leads with Bree Nakatani expert session taught me how many types of contests are out there and what types to use on what platforms. For Twitter and Facebook, run a sweepstakes. For Instagram launch a hashtag contest. Facebook? Photo contest. This also made me realize how much I don’t care for participating in contests! The prize would have to be something I really want in order for me to join in. Like a trip to Europe. Greece would be ideal. Anyways, This knowledge will be useful in the future, even though I am not exactly sure where marketing will take me.
How to Plan Social Media Messages with Nathan Ellering was another expert session I got a great deal of information out of. In fact, I used him as a reference in the final SMM Strategy report. I didn’t realize there were so many “rules” on what you should or shouldn’t post depending on which platform you were using. No hashtags on Facebook but use as many as 11+ hashtags on Instagram. Only post once per day on Facebook but go ahead and post up to 15 times per day on Twitter and feel free to use about 1-2 hashtags with your Twitter post. Yikes!
It’s not just your online resume, it’s your online reputation.
Gabe Villamizar
Social Media Optimization expert session with Gabe Villamizar, on to how optimize your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts was super helpful! Mostly when it came to the LinkedIn information. Since listening to this video I’ve gone back several times and changed what I knew I needed to change and played around with content until I’m satisfied with it. Advice such as including information about what you did and the value you brought to the organization was key. Sharing updates on a daily basis to get more exposure was another one but I think the best one, which now I look at as- Duh! Why not?!- find like-minded professionals and groups… I immediately looked up science-y-health and wellness-holistic and natural- groups I could find! This is the field I truly want to be and I’m not sure why I didn’t realize before I should do this.
The biggest thing I’ll take away, is as much as I want to dislike social media, it’s here to stay and it can be used for good, not just evil like I always thought it was. So, I guess I’ll keep up with social media and it’s never-ending evolution. Nothing wrong with staying in the loop. But I’m still going to complain about it from time to time! 😉
Eagle Social 
I had to laugh at your headline, because I felt the exact same way—largely because of my own ambivalence about social media. Ultimately it’s just another platform for marketing, though. And I also totally had to come to terms with it as being part of our society whether we want it to or not. Great reflection!
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I agree with you. I kinda enjoyed it and learned some great things. Im from the generation our first social media was MySpace and our biggest dilemma was who was going to be our top friends and how to make our profiles different. Never did i think almost all businesses would be on social media.
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