Credit: Five Forks Church

Something that immediately comes to mind when reflecting on my experience in this course is that I just have been thinking about social media and my usage of it more than I ever have in the past. Before this course, I viewed social media as something that I engaged with and enjoyed on a very personal, low stakes level. I didn’t consider the way I could use it to my advantage professionally or career-wise; and this course has definitely opened up that avenue to me. Taking a more straightforward and motivated approach in networking, making connections, and putting myself out there for career development in the future is something I want to put to practice, and I feel as though the things I have learned and discussed the last few months are going to greatly aid me in that. Because I have had an opportunity to learn about and reflect on the potential pitfalls or struggles I could encounter while navigating this – I feel as though I am now better equipped to begin and have less chances of making grave mistakes. Although I do still want to keep my lighthearted, personal accounts where I can joke around and be silly with my friends; I am much more serious now about the idea of having a separate space for work-related things, as well as making sure that my personal accounts do not post or reply to something that could potentially come back later to bite me or be taken the wrong way. I’ve always been someone who valued my privacy online, and seeing how accessible and easy to find someone’s old mistakes can be on things like Twitter or Facebook – I am even more sure that I want to keep my personal accounts locked and amongst close friends only just as a safeguard for the future. 

I really loved the concept of PLN’s in particular and was reminded again and again just how valuable of a thing they can be. I certainly would like to work on growing and developing my own PLN even after classes for this semester end, as connections I make now can certainly come to help me in the future as I look for work opportunities. In times like this, where the world is largely forced online due to covid, being social media literate and savvy is having a huge advantage over the thousands of others trying to gain their footing in this new space. Because of this course and the things I was able to watch and engage with as it went on, I feel confident moving forward as someone who can handle building a presence in an online space.