A Farewell to JMC 327

It’s that time of year again–another school year is almost done. As a senior about to graduate in two weeks, this is certainly a bittersweet time for me. I’ve anticipated  being finished with my classes all semester, but will certainly miss many of them. One that I will miss most is my social media class with Dr. Carol Zuegner.

When I think back to the day I first walked into class in January, my knowledge of social media was extremely basic at that time. Facebook and Twitter were my two main go-to outlets. Now, nearly five months later, my knowledge of the subject matter of social media has increased exponentially.

From exploring Klout to becoming a Twitter expert (#jmc327forever) to dabbling in the various uses of Storify, my time spent in social media class has allowed me to acquire a valuable, diverse set of online skills that will be advantageous to me when it comes to landing a job, networking, and staying in tune with the world’s latest happenings.

In addition, I enjoyed our class field trip to the Nebraska Humane Society. It was extremely eye-opening in terms of discovering how organizations are putting metrics to use, and meeting Baxter the dog was also a huge highlight of the trip. Pie Day was, of course, another high point of the semester.

On a larger scale, my time in JMC 327 has taught me that the beauty of social media is that it can be tailored and utilized in countless ways to accomplish various goals for different organizations and different people. It is a tool that can be thoroughly personalized to achieve specific results. When it comes to social media, all that we need is a mere click away. For that reason, I believe that being creatively inclined and possessing a willingness to try new things online will likely lead to success in the world of social media.

Expanding my knowledge on this subject matter has been a priceless experience. In retrospect, I feel that my biggest takeaway from this class is realizing that social media can–and will–continue to change. Because of this fact, it is clear to me that I will need to do the same. Luckily, my time in JMC 327 has equipped me with the necessary skills to do just that.