Reflection on Learning

After learning about the various topics in this course, it is clear to see why social media is a new domain that businesses need to learn to utilise and can subsequently receive many benefits from. It is clear that to understand what creates effective social media techniques, there is a need to grasp that social media platforms are heavily reliant on the networks of users that join them. This is not just in terms of keeping the platform in operation, but in providing revenue and generating the spread of news and messages. This can most effectively be achieved through network analysis, identifying the key influential players and utilising this to maximise the spread and impact. However, as technology gathers pace and intelligence, there will always be issues surrounding privacy online, the security of the vast collections of personal data gathered, and the effects of creating over-personalised content through algorithms, increasing the risk of a filter bubble.

Some of the topics that I particularly enjoyed learning about included Social Network Analysis, Social Media Business Models and Social Media marketing strategies and metrics. All of these topics provided practical applications to my academic work, as well as insightful backgrounds and understanding of how important social media is within the business plan. I had previously dealt with a few social media metrics before in my other marketing courses, but this course extended the list dramatically. There were plenty of new concepts and theories learnt from the course, including business model canvas getting to practice using social analysis tools. All of the concepts and terms in the social network analysis module were new to me, but I can now begin to apply them within my other marketing modules, and it has also allowed me to add further skills on systems such as Gephi and Tableau.

The topics from this course sit nicely within my whole degree, especially in the case of my dissertation which uses the ideas of social contagion theory and the influential and susceptible groups of individuals, studying social media influencers on YouTube. In terms of future career aspirations, I have decided that the marketing discipline is the career path for me, and during my placement year in a marketing department, it was very clear just how important digital and social media marketing is to a company. This was not just focused on the advertising and promotion side, but customer relations and engagement on the company’s social media platforms, such as responding back to customer comments on posts and posting images and videos of products to keep the consumers up to date with news and releases. A major focus of my courses for final year have been on developing my knowledge of the marketing discipline, specifically in the digital area, and this course has invaluably supplemented this.