Reading Reflection No. 2 - 21A

I read The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users, Guy Kawasaki.


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

Tips and advice on how to build an authentic social media following, whether for your business or personal branding.

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

Nowadays, you need to be present on social media, especially if you're an entrepreneur or own a business. Thanks to the power of social media, you now have the opportunity to connect with millions of people worldwide, which is the ultimate goal. Having a good product and website is great, but if people do not know about it, then, unfortunately, you will not make the sale or gain the exposure needed to be successful. In our last class lecture, Dr. Pryor spoke about the importance of SEO and building an excellent website that Google will rank high in the search engines. This book talks about the importance of SEO and how social media can help drive traffic to your website and make you more credible. We live in a time where anybody can be a successful entrepreneur thanks to social media.

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

Social media is an ever-evolving subject. The book was published in 2014, which was five years ago! A lot has changed regarding the best practices to get ahead in the social media world, especially with changes in the algorithm with Facebook and Instagram. The book puts a lot of emphasis on Google +, which is no longer active (closed in March 2019). If I had to design an exercise, I would focus on growing your social media presence. Specifically for Instagram, both pictures and stories, how to build your blog and YouTube channel. Those three are the most important channels to focus on currently. Tik Tok is big now, but I don't think it'll last.

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?

The book made me realize that it's not all about content creation but also content curation. Content creation is the process of creating your own content from scratch and marketing it to your followers or subscribers. Content Curation is the process of gathering existing information like blogs, social media posts, or ebooks relevant to a particular topic and sharing it with your brand's followers. It's virtually impossible to create new daily content, especially if you don't have a team. Sharing other people's content will help you get ahead. People will be more inclined to share your work if you share theirs. It will also save you time not having to create daily, and the content you share will make you appear more knowledgeable in the field you're in, even if the content was not created by you.