You Can Change It

When I first signed up for the class, it was just to get more credits and work towards a minor. I thought the class would be a breeze. In my mind, social media was a good tool to use in my field of study, but I assumed my knowledge of social media was advanced enough to where I could make it through this class without any problems. While that was not the case, I learned more than I ever thought I would about social media and how much goes into using it. I have three takeaways that I want to share from my experiences in this class. First, I can't run from the numbers anymore. I have said this before, but I was never a huge fan of analytics when I first came to college. I did well in the classes I took, but it was never a joy of mine. However, from this class I learned that it is everywhere even in social media. The longer I try to get away from it the harder time I am going to have when I must use it; so why not embrace right? Second, find your voice and stay true to you....

For my interpersonal communications class, we must complete end-of-chapter activities and report them in a journal. For this section, I watched this Ted Talk about a man named Ric Elias and his plane crash story. He talked about all the thoughts running through his mind as the captain said those three fatal words "brace for impact." The takeaway from his story were these three main ideas. First, it all changes in an instant. Second, the only thing he regretted was the time wasted on things that don't matter with the people that do matter. Lastly, that dying is not scary, it's sad and his only wish was to see his kids grow up. After giving his account of the story, he challenges the listeners with the question "what would we get done that we are waiting to get done now?" We live in a world where everyone believes that have all the tie in the world to do what they need to. It a sense of the world revolving around us when, we have no idea what is going t...

Google slides is a software used for preparing slides for presentations either in the classroom or the workplace. It runs very similar to the Microsoft Office software, PowerPoint. I have used PowerPoint whenever I needed to do any form of presentation. I have always found it easier to use and convenient for me. this past assignment I had in my business analytics class has changed my outlook on google slides. One feature Google slides does that PowerPoint does not, is the auto-save feature which stores it to the cloud. The feature makes changes at all access points if the document is changed in any way.  This past Tuesday, we had to give a class presentation for our final group project. We had split into groups and had a couple weeks to find variables and solve for a data set. We had finished our work in a timely manner and put both our report and presentation slides together. We had to submit the documents before the start of class. We decided not to go first, and I am so ...

For one of our last assignments in my social media principles class, we had to create an ad similar to the ones on Facebook and Twitter. Facebook offers a hub where you can go in and use your pictures, videos, and other media forms to create paid advertisements. They offered a bunch of different styles for basing your ad on which were unique to the two platforms. They had demonstrations available so you could preview what your ad would look like and give suggestions to help improve it. Now this sounds simple enough, but I spent more time working on this assignment that I had on any other in this class. I was already off to a bad start by not looking at moodle at all of thanksgiving break, but pair this with my unique ability to procrastinate at the worst moments made this experience even more interesting. I read through the instructions five time before I had the slightest clue as to how I wanted to set this up. Thankfully, I was not alone in m confusion and could talk with classm...

In my social media principles class, we have just finished our second book "Social Media for Strategic Communication." Personally, I thought this book was much more informative than the last book "The Art of Social Media." The chapters were liter in the first book and easy to read; although it seemed more common sense or basic aspects of social media. I enjoy with this strategy book is that it showed you more of the "how" things work. It gave me more background into the world of a social media professional. Before this class, I thought working in social media was a "fun" job. It was making posts all day, taking great pictures to show, promoting businesses or products, and was not super strenuous. While in this class we looked at the typical day of a social media professional and I was way off. The amount of planning, strategy, and even analytics that goes into using social media in a profession. Building a personal or professional brand...

This past week, I was able to go home and see family and friends for Thanksgiving break. It was a much-needed hiatus from the busy life of a college athlete. Leading up to the break was the most stressful week of school I had all semester. It was a combination of assignments due, papers I had put off, and tests in classes. What seemed like the longest week ever ended with me submitting my assignment for this class. Saturday morning at 4 a.m., we begin our eight-hour drive back home to the east coast. With so much to be thankful for, number one for me was family. I had not seen my parents or siblings since early August. My family is very close and over break we had movie nights, game nights, and sat around the table talking and laughing for hours. We ate more food than we probably should have, but mom's cooking is too good not to. I was also able to see my closest friends over break. We visited one of my best friend's colleges and played games and talked with his friends. I...

If you're like me, then you were a fan of math until the alphabet was thrown into the mix. From algebra to calculus, I was able to do the work well, but I never truly enjoyed doing it. In chapter 10 of Social Media for Strategic Communication, it talks about measurements, evaluation, budget, and calendars in public relations. We have talked about calendars before, but what stood out to me was the measurements and evaluation. In our class discussion, it was brought up that a common misconception with people working in PR is that they do not use numbers or analytics. I was one who believed PR was more about working with people or social media and not the analytical side of things. I chose marketing and communications to study because I thought that was an opportunity to put my creativity and people skills to use. I love working with a team or interacting with new people when I'm on the job. Hearing that even in social media and public relation that analytics still fol...

If you have not heard of Disney+ yet, here's what you should know. A little over a week ago, Nov. 12, Disney launched their new streaming service, like Netflix and Hulu. In that time, Disney+ has gathered over 10 million followers which compares to Hulu which has 28 million followers after over 10 years of being active. Netflix has 150 million subscribers after 10 years. During their first week, the streaming service crashed, and many users were not able to use it. It was later described as a coding issue that would be fixed soon. Disney offers this service for $7 per month while competitors like Netflix charge $5 more. I do wonder what will become of Netflix. I think the quality of the Netflix original movies are what keeps them so popular. Soon all content belonging to Disney will be pulled from other streaming services. Netflix just added older shows from Nickelodeon in what I believe are efforts to keep up with Disney+. I currently still have both services, but I won...

I shared with you before what the beginning of the season was like. Our season had its ups and downs, but like all good things, it comes to an end. The end of the season was a whirlwind. Conflicts arose and we found ourselves without a position coach, but thankfully other coaches steeped in to fill that role in the final two weeks. After our loss to Mount Union, we went home with a 4-4 record and things looking very similar to last year's 5-5 season. We had a choice to make. Whether we would give our all, rely on each other and play for something bigger than ourselves; or just give up. The night before playing Baldwin-Wallace, a nationally ranked team, one of the coaches sat us down as asked us "what's your why?" Why are we here? Why do we play? His speech is one I will remember for the rest of my life because it made us think and really search within ourselves to find the reason we step onto that field. Baldwin-Wallace shows up after having tal...

Have you ever tried to give advice to a friend, and it didn't go as planned? Has there been a time where you needed someone to talk to but instead of listening, they just kept trying to tell you what to do? In my interpersonal communications, class we discussed the process of listening. Here are eight steps in how to practice good listening skills and provide advice. 1. Silent listening. This first step is important as staying attentive to what the speaker is saying showing we care. Responding with a head nod or other nonverbal cues helps. Try not to interrupt as that can offend the speaker. Sometimes listening to someone means more than the advice you can give.   2. Questioning. After hearing all the speaker has to say, offer so questions for clarity. The goal is not to ask questions that trap the speaker or that have a "correct" answer. Ask how they feel about the situation or learn other details that may have been left out. 3. Paraphrasing. After qu...

In my social media principles class this week, we talked about content marketing in terms or what it is and how it works. Content marketing is a strategy centered on creating content that is meaningful to your audience and then distributing that content to attain profitable action by the consumer. As your own brand you have a unique voice and sharing it on social media can be beneficial to your brand. Here are four reasons why you should create content on social media as provided by "Social Media for Strategic Communication." 1. "Having a strong brand awareness." Everything that you upload to any social media platform can be considered a digital footprint. This section focuses on knowing how you want your brand to be recognized and producing content that reinforces it. Using opportunities of partnerships or outside communities can also help to bring more awareness to your brand. It is important to have brand awareness because as this happen you may have less ...

Facebook launched in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg . Over the years, it has gathered a following of nearly 2.3 billion monthly followers. As Facebook has grown over the years, the company has acquired other popular websites and apps under its umbrella which include Instagram, WhatsApp, LiveRail and Oculus VR. Facebook has recently announced its changing of their logo . The change is intended to promote an overall ownership structure to anyone that may use a service provided by Facebook. I have to say I am a fan of the new logo. I think the color change is a nice touch although I'm not sure if that is permanent. The spacing between the letters gives a more modern feel to it. Using all capital letters with a smaller font reminds me of how the Instagram letters are shaped. I think a common connotation Facebook gets is that it is not "cool." It the social media that our parents used and not modern enough for the younger generation. While this change was to promote a revised st...

How many of you would consider yourselves a good listener? What is the difference between hearing and listening? Do you think you practice any bad listening habits? These are all questions we were asking in my interpersonal communications class when we started a new second on listening. Hearing is simply the process of sound waves hitting your eardrum, but listening is receiving and responding to the messages. when talking about listening, there is mindful and mindless. Mindful listening is paying careless attention and mindless is focusing on something else or reacting with the "okay" or "yeah" but not really knowing what is being said. You can't stop yourself from hearing, but you can stop listening. Here are five poor listening habits that can happen when we stop listening. 1. Pseudo-listening. This is where you try to trick the speaker into think you are paying careful attention. this form of listening gives the appearance that you are paying careful...

In my social media principles class, we discussed chapter 7 of "Social Media for Strategic Communication" the best practices in writing social media. Even doing smaller projects, like this blog, I think it is important to realize the preparation that goes into any form of social media. I am going to share my top five picks for most important practices to keep your social media. 1. Spelling and grammar are very important. I think it is fitting that this be the first point because it is the most important aspect of writing for social media and a simple slip up could potentially affect your entire brand moving forward. If this is the first impression, incorrect grammar can turn people away. There are many different out there to assistant your writing and help you produce the best content possible. 2. Brevity is the name of the game. While social media consumes large amounts of time for a large amount of people, the majority do not spend it reading. We ...

Fortnite is the most popular video game in the world. Epic Games, the parent company, launched the game in the early 2010's. Now, in 2019, Fortnite has passed 250 million players. Fortnite has grown to host competitive events for amateur and professional video game players. Among those professionals is a FaZe Jarvis . Jarvis Kaye is a member of the FaZe clan. FaZe clan is an esports organization that competes is video game tournaments. Jarvis was permanently banned from playing Fortnite because he used aimbots to cheat. Aimbots are a software that allow you to shoot other players without using the controls to aim. They allow you to give yourself an almost unbeatable advantage in the shooter games. FaZe Jarvis thought using them for fun or as a joke would be a creative idea for a video. He released an apology video stating he never meant for any of this to happen. Jarvis regularly made YouTube videos of him playing the game. This was a mainstream of revenue for him and what s...