Final Reflection

 This semester has been unique in the sense of not being in a classroom setting due to the pandemic. It was my first semester ever taking online classes via Zoom and Microsoft Teams. I didn't know what to expect in this Introduction to Social Media class, but I just hoped for the best. The main goal I had from the beginning which stayed the same throughout was to pass, but I also don't have many social media accounts that I actively use so I was hoping this class could convince me to make one. This class did help me realize that technology is only innovating and social media is growing, so eventually I'll make one. This class do help make you think critically about social media by making you aware of algorithms and privacy and the lack there of. Everyday is an opportunity to grow. I think I've learned a few things I can take with me to the rest of my life. Learning in itself is a process which doesn't happen over night. What I mean is you can't fully understand or grasp the full meaning of things in a short amount of time, so what I've learned in this 13 week course is more than I knew before. Learning a little is more than nothing. I won't say I've mastered any concepts from this course, but we've dealt with many ideas from economy, politics, controversies, AI algorithms, data security, etc. and I haven't necessarily mastered any. But I have more knowledge on each then I did before. A concept I kind of struggled with would be the ideologies behind AI algorithms. This class has helped with my ability to think critically about media and technology from different aspects. I plan to continue my journey to think more critically about the world around me. I will make a social media account, and using the information from this class I can spot out concepts we've discussed.