This is my home page where you can find information about myself and about how the class is going.
Kaitlyn French
Introductory Statement:
Hello! My name is Kaitlyn French. I am a fourth year student at the University of Pittsburgh and am studying Media and Professional Communications with a specialization of Writing for the Professions.
I am currently enrolled in a class, Professional Uses of Social Media, which is the reason for this website! I have familiarity with social media, having used it personally and maintaining for an organization.
Social media is crucial in our world today. We, as humans, demand everything at our fingertips. This does not only include updates about what is going on with our friends and family but information about really anything and everything. I am interested in taking a deeper look into how critical social media plans and strategies are for organizations.
As a senior, I have started applying to jobs. When I state that I am applying for jobs in communications, everyone always thinks HR and maybe writing, but never managing social platforms... and I cannot help but wonder why that is, especially because of the critical role social media plays in our world today.
I hope to gain a better understand on ways to effectively run social platforms for companies. This would include planning and creating platform specific content, also how to create a specific plan to help employers. I am also interested into working with ecent specific social media. This could be for a music festival or different athletic races.
Visit my linkedin profile HERE!
Midterm Reflection
My ideas about social media have changed more and are more developed in a business mindset. I have more ideas about how to use social media for gain for companies. I think that looking at social media in this way has impacted how I use it now. It is interesting to read about social media in this context, because most, if not all, have grown up with it and used as a connector. But there are some people who have figured out how to use it for their gain and to make a living from it. Going into this class, I knew a little about using social media due to my previous experience, but I was not part of the background and how much planning it takes to create an online business presence. This topic has been interesting to study. Unlike many other classed, I went into this class with an online presence and, what I thought was, a full understanding of social media. However, much of my knowledge has adapted to the specific area of social media, which is mostly new.
What helps the most is the work during class. I feel that I am often getting lost in the readings because it is a lot of information. I also believe that this topic is mostly work that you apply and learn from. I do the readings but often find that I forget much of what I read because I am not applying it. I enjoy the group work. I believe that it is helpful to talk with others about what we are doing. Through our groups, I have been able to work through issues outside of the classroom.
Looking at social media in a different light is hard. Especially since many of us grew up with it, I feel that I should know this aspect of social media. But I have learned to take a step back from that and take in what I can from this angle of it. Again, I think the group work has been beneficial in this aspect because it seems as we are all pretty much clueless to this side of it. We are all struggling and learning together which is comforting.
I find this coursework to be relevant to my life. This is something I hope to do after college and so what I am learning are things that I will be using and applying. I think the fact that I do want to do this after school connects me more to the topic. This is not a topic where I dread going, because I enjoy it.
Final Reflection
Throughout this website, you will find the work that I have created and compiled throughout the semester. The strategy you will find on this page has been a working progress through my process document. This document is filled with different sections, ultimately making up a strategy! You will also find two other pieces of work on this site: my story and op-ed. These are two pieces that I am proud of as they are on a topic which I am interested in, sexual assault. My story was something that I impressed myself with. I took on a completely new platform in hopes to make something cool, and I was very happy with the outcome. As you will see, my op-ed is in a more traditional format, yet was a very freeing activity.
What excites me about this portfolio is just how much I have seen it grow over the semester. From starting with a completely blank website to one that has information on each page is fulfilling. As someone with interest in pursuing social media after college, I enjoyed learning about the topic and showing the knowledge learned through this website.
I hope to continue the account that I created and continuously update the strategy I made. As I continue to enter the working world and move away from Pittsburgh, it might be challenging but is definitely worth it. Please feel free to reach out to me with any suggestions, my LinkedIn profile can be found on my about me page. Also, do not forget to follow me @BlueEyedSights! :)