My Use of Social Media, Now

Over the past semester, I think that my use of social media has
evolved slightly. I finally made use of my Twitter account, actively
tweeting for class but also utilizing it as a source of news. I found
a few relevant Twitter accounts to follow and found myself checking my
feed regularly through my phone. Twitter is an efficient means of
obtaining news from specific sources in real time that I’ve found to
be very useful. I think that I’ll continue to use it for news but
probably won’t tweet often.

My use of Facebook has remained consistent in a personal social
networking capacity, but I do view it, and other SNSs, in a different
way—as media with huge potential. The most striking capabilities of
social media have been as means for marketers to reach potential
customers, and as facilitators of social movements. Over the course of
our class, I’ve become much more aware of how people use social media,
what kind of information users broadcast to the world, and how
companies can use social media to their advantage. Branding and
marketing are becoming one of the primary functions of social media.
Now, companies can directly connect with their customers and target
new customers more precisely. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other
SNSs are all used by companies to promote their brands. This awareness
has made me consider companies’ pages and posts more critically than I
did before. In light of all that has occurred with the Arab Spring as
well as the Occupy Wall Street movement, it has become clear that the
power of social media extends well beyond functioning as a way to keep
in touch with old friends.

In general, I feel that having examined social media through different
lenses in class has made me consider it in a different way, even when
I’m immersed as a user. In the future, I think I may have to become
less involved in social media on a personal level and more active to
keep up with trends and news for professional purposes.

Cindy H.