Social Media and Academic Learning

"The power of social media is it forces necessary change." 

- Erik Qualman

The blog post you are about to read is going to be dedicated to a little opinion rant of mine on my views about social media being a legitimate learned subject. About 10 years ago social media would not have been an aid in class room discussion, projects or even more so something that a class revolves around. Today it is almost second nature to use social media and talk about in classes. I think that there should be a mandatory class freshmen year of college called Social Media. This class should be aimed at teaching students how to use social media to benefit them in the professional world. Subjects that are touched on should be about using social media in a business atmosphere and how it relates to customers. 

As a graphic design major social media is constantly being used. Whether we are creating mood boards, uploading our portfolios, making app prototypes and elements for websites and apps, it is in our blood to gear our creativeness towards social media. It is an outlet for inspiration and to get graphic design work to build up a audience and positive online presence. Having social media as a resource is a smart subject for professors to express and teach it in a way for students to learn its professional capabilities.