Working at my computer all night for this class trying to figure out Flickr. Photo by Jeremy Emery
Sometimes you think you know it all.
Sometimes you don’t.
But what I learned in J226 is that I really only know the half of it.
I was fortunate enough to have had some online media background, but what I have come to love about this fun, yet challenging class is that no matter what programs you think you know, there are a million more out there.
I sometimes get really excited working in a certain program, say, Final Cut, then I don’t give other programs like Audacity an SoundCloud a chance. Being forced to learn these programs has helped me expand my knowledge and also look to specific programs for specific problems.
The social media aspect of J226 I believe is fantastic. I have greatly expanded my online-presence and my Twitter list has already been retweeted over ten times by people I have never even met before. I went from having about thirty followers to now one hundred and thirty-three ( though sometimes people drop off, I have picked up too).
Professor Baird has shown me that just because you are a student, doesn’t mean that you cannot submit to well-known blogs and more often than not get picked up!
I am thrilled to be able to know more programs and feel comfortable with Twitter, HootSuite ( which is very helpful) and Audacity.
Excel is a program that can die in a puddle of death. I have nothing more to say about this program other than I feel completely stupid when using it, even though I know I am not stupid, at all.
More than ever I know that while I never wanted to become a traditional “Journalist,” I can happily say that all the tools I learned in this class I hope to apply to my life in public relations and/or marketing. When I joined this program a year ago I knew that I wanted to go into PR and marketing and now I can say that I feel comfortable marketing and getting the word out about someone or something on the internet. I see how PR giants like Lizzie Grubman and “Mashable” use Twitter and they are no different from me. ( Well maybe they have half a million followers, but hey, that is just a number).
All in all this seems like one of the most relevant classes I have taken at San Francisco State and I plan to take everything I have learned in the class to the next level.
