Week 1A : My Template

    Flowers have always been very symbolic in my life and I identify with their symbolic meanings. Most of my tattoos are flowers, varying from roses, peonies, lotus', and more. I think that the meaning behind red roses being beauty and sacrifice is very symbolic of my reasoning for going back to school and taking this social media course.

    Personal fitness was my main goal track until the pandemic hit. I had to pivot and reevaluate what made sense for me to put me focus into for work and making a career for myself out of. I stopped feeling comfortable being around others for my workouts and didn't have the credibility to build my personal training business, as well as finding that business closures might be a good time to go back and look at social media marketing. 

    The roses on the theme I chose represent the sacrifice I made switching career paths again, putting personal training on the back burner, and expanding my love and knowledge for social media marketing. I decided to come back to school, which I never thought would happen after 3 years. I'm excited to take this course and learn more about this field, and with that, the beauty (like the roses) of an ugly situation like COVID-19, has been brought to the forefront.

    

    Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are the social media applications that come to mind when I think of personal use. I've used three of those in the time I've been on social media, but from friends, coworkers, and others I've spoken to, those seem like the main four that people use for their own accounts. These give you a way to see what friends and family are up to, as well as see what's going on with businesses or companies you care about, see what new artwork an artist you like or follow has created, etc. These are all platforms that also allow easy communication with others to stay connected.

    For businesses, I would say Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram are the most important applications because of their broad audience reach and ability to help with things on the operations side of things, and not just retail and sales. There are always ads being previewed on all of these platforms that businesses are using to target their audience and clientele. This is helping build their revenue from click throughs generating sales, but its also expanding the target audience they've developed. These platforms are also used to find employees for different positions within a company. I've personally used Facebook and LinkedIn for work, as well as had people reach out for me to apply for their jobs. Instagram is used a lot to find influencers or brand ambassadors to represent a company. I've had people look at my Instagram account as a less professional portfolio and book photoshoots through the app by sending a direct message, but my profile, like any other business/company, shows not only my professional work, but a way to see who I am and in a way other than reading an "about me" or resume.

With all that being said, I see Facebook and Instagram as two social media platforms that can be used well for either personal or business use. Twitter and Linkedin are more for social and keeping up with individuals or business and strictly work. There are many other platforms that I can think of, but I'd want to get more familiar with before deciding which use they'd be better for.