21A Reading Reflection No. 2

For this reading I chose to read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, by Guy Kawasaki.

1.      What was the general theme or argument of the book?

The general theme of this book is the author giving tips to readers on how to use social media effectively. There are over 123 tips in the book covering a range of topics. The author covers many of the most popular social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.). The author gives advice to readers on the importance of profiles, comments, posts, and how to get many followers. The book focuses on how to gain the most out of social media on both an individual level and a business level.

2.      How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?

This book connects with a lot of the material that we are learning in ENT 3003. The book really relates to the importance of connecting with your audience. Everything you do on social media must connect your business to the consumer. Nowadays, in order to be successful with your business, you must have a strong presence on social media. It is one of the important tools to market your business and receive a lot of feedback from people who view your posts about your business. Having a strong presence on platforms like Linkedin, you can also grow your social capital as well.

3.      If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?

If I had to design an exercise for this course, based on the book, the exercise would focus on utilizing social media for the business concept. I would design the exercise by having students design a mock social media page for their business venture on one or two platforms of their choice. I would have the students create a “profile” based on the tips given by the book. I would also have them use the tips to draft content for a couple of weeks. Like what we do now, I would have others comment on their posts for feedback. Finally, since Kawasaki emphasized the importance of responding to feedback, I would have the students respond back to the feedback they received.

Another assignment could be to have the students look up companies who are in the same kind of work as the business venture, and to have them reflect on the methods they use and see if many correlate with the tips from the book.

4.      What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?

I think my biggest ‘aha’ moment when reading this book is how much I did not know about social media. First, I guess I did not realize the big role of the social media profile. According to the author, people spend a few seconds looking at it and make a “snap decision”. It is almost like how employers look at resumes for a few seconds and make a quick decision.  I also did not know how many programs are out on the market to help you keep a schedule of when to post. As someone who does not post on social media very often, the frequency that Kawasaki recommends is very high (once to multiple times a day). I also thought that the main social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin) were the main ones used by businesses. The author stressed how much Google+ is effective which I found was quite interesting. Finally, I also did not realize the power of the hashtag. I thought it was something mostly focused on Twitter. According to Kawasaki, the hashtag is one of the most important tools you can use on social media. It is something that you should to promote anything and you should have as many people use it as possible. The more people that use the hashtag, the more publicity you gain and possibly more followers.