Reflection Post

Wow! What a semester it has been! Such a lively and entertaining class to be part of! Our ALES 204 class has learned so much in regards to communication, social media and being professional. ALES 204 was a very valuable class to take in order to learn more about how social networking will impact us in the future!

Favorite part of the course? Using Twitter for marks! It was so much fun to use Twitter in a course. I found it helpful to read what others thoughts were on the material and I also enjoyed seeing others use Twitter for the first time. I have had Twitter for a few years now and I now have 826 followers! It is amazing what you can do when you have numerous followers. For my job last year, I was paid to tweet for YoungFreeAlberta.com and we had almost 3,000 followers to our Twitter page! If I wanted to know what the road conditions were, I would tweet out, and receive three or four responses in a matter of minutes! So cool and useful! I'm truly glad that students had to get this and can experience how fun Twitter is. I think that the people who 'hate' Twitter the most... end up liking it the most!! I also loved telling other students at the University that I was tweeting for marks!! Let's just say... they were more than jealous.

Besides the skills I learned in public speaking, presenting, interviewing and e-mail writing, I think I most valued about ALES 204 was the the online tools that we learned about. LinkedIn, Delicious, Google Docs and Wikipedia... all tools that I didn't use before but I will now! Since getting LinkedIn, I have connected with 35 people and that number continues to grow! I love being connected to people that I used to work with on a professional level. Google Docs is another tool that saved me this semester. Works so well with group projects! Saved me and my groups lots of stress and I will definitely be using it again in the future!

Overall, this was a very useful course to take and I am glad that I took it after they changed the platform. Much more interesting with social media added into the curriculum! I think that next time this is offered you all should include YouTube as a subject to be covered as well! YouTube is one of the most visited websites on the internet and can be used in a professional manner as well. Definitely worth looking into! Thanks to Jessica and my T.A. Obi for taking the time to teach this course because I think we will all be able to take a lot away from this class!

Here are the links to the comments I have made on other blog posts:

• Madeleine
• Julie
• Annalise
• Jasmeena
• Nicole
• Katy

Here is a video that Professor Jessica Laccetti asked Annalise Young, Julianna Damer and I to put together for the last day of class. It is a video that sums up the course and looks at how we can use ALES 204 in the future. Check it out!

And to conclude, here are some famous quotes from influential bloggers and experts on social media.

“How can you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?”- Seth Godin, Seth's Blog

“Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences." - Mike DiLorenzo, NHL social media marketing director 

“More companies are discovering that an über-connected workplace is not just about implementing a new set of tools — it is also about embracing a cultural shift to create an open environment where employees are encouraged to share, innovate and collaborate virtually.” - Karie Willyerd & Jeanne C. Meister, HarvardBusiness.org 

“Networking is not about hunting. It is about farming. It’s about cultivating relationships. Don’t engage in ‘premature solicitation’. You’ll be a better networker if you remember that.” -Dr. Ivan Misner, NY bestselling author & founder of BNI

Thanks for reading my blog!

Social Media Revolution!

Very interesting! Check it out!

About Kelsey MacDonald

My name is Kelsey MacDonald and this is my blog for my ALES 204 class at the University of Alberta. I am currently in my last year in the Human Ecology program and I am hoping to pursue a career in Public Relations. I moved to Edmonton from Calgary after high school in 2007 and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in the capital city.

Last year, I was lucky enough to be chosen as Servus Credit Union's Young & Free Alberta Spokesperson for the 2010-2011 term. This job was all about being the connection between Servus Credit Union and Generation Y.  I was paid to Facebook, blog, tweet, and create videos for their Young & Free program, all in hopes of generating a greater number of young clientele to Servus. This job changed my outlook on life and greatly influenced my decision to aspire for a career in public relations because I realized how much I loved connecting with people from all around the world. I also now have a deep understanding of social media and it's importance in our lives due to this work experience.

The role of a public relations specialist is to work with a company to help enhance their reputation and create awareness of their brand or goals. In this day and age, social media plays an enormous role in the marketing of a business. Now, one can be paid to run a social networking site for a business, just as I did last year. This alone proves how integral social media has become in our day to day lives. According to SocialBakers.com, "currently, there are 16 761 880 Facebook users in the Canada, which makes it #13 in the ranking of all Facebook statistics by country." The presence of social media can also be exemplified through the fact of almost every (if not every) large retail company has an official Twitter account and Facebook page. It is a great way to notify the public of what the company is up to... for example, the Nike Store.

 

Or, Sears can create an official @SearsDeals Twitter account where their customers can be continuously updated on their discounts or current coupons. 

This is a great marketing strategy and perfect for generating awareness for potential new customers. Being part of the Young & Free Alberta program helped me realize how much I love social media and what a big part it is playing in our society today. That job helped me to decide that I wanted a career in public relations and I know that social media will continue to be a huge part of my life for a very long time.

I also enjoyed reading Nicole Hayday's blog and how she is planning on incorporating social media into her animal science and veterinary medicine lessons.