Reading Reflection No. 3

• 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?

This book discusses the ways in which social media can benefit your life or be detrimental to it. The book discusses how there is a strategy in using social media so that it can benefit you and not be something that weighs you down. The strategy discusses is to stay focused on what you want to gain and don't allow other things to get in the way. The book also discusses how to get started on social media and how to use it for marketing. 

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

This book was really beneficial for any entrepreneur or young person who uses social media to read. It gives a different perspective on social media and how to use it for your benefit, not just to connect with your friends and develop unhealthy habits from it. The book gives a list of strategies to implement into your time spent on social media so that can achieve success. It relates to this class by discussing target audiences and marketing techniques, which we also discuss. 

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

I would have everyone create an Instagram account or a blog and attempt to implement the techniques listed in the book. This would be a type of experiment to both see how easy it is to use these marketing strategies and also to see if they work in the real world. The class would create demand for a product, drive online traffic, build a following, and create a network for their product. 

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?

My biggest surprise while reading was how this book is very focused on marketing through social media and not much else. I was expecting this book to focus on the social aspect of social media and the individuality that makes it appealing for people, but it really focused on brand and product recognition and marketing. I think it could have focused more on how if you portray yourself a certain way online you can also achieve the same things, but without a product. You can use social media to simply market yourself and capitalize off of yourself, and have brands reach out to you wanting to work with you. I think the book should have discussed this more, not focused so much on products.