Social media. To be or not to be.

In a world where we can’t no longer live without access to a screen, being a smart phone, a computer or a tablet between others, the question is no longer to be or not to be. Now the question is in what social media network should I be.

With its pros and cons, social media has become a fundamental tool in mostly every industry. Specially in the creative industry where it is a brilliant way to show our work to the world as well as to network.

Being a design student, I have to start being there, and make my own social media presence. But between the infinite social media platforms that exist, what and where to start? The first decision I need to make is deciding my objectives, what do I want to get out my social media presence? Do I want to get freelance opportunities? Do I want to get an in-house job in a studio? Do I want to sell my posters or my quotes? Once that decision is done, and of course it can change over the time, is time to decide a social media network that best suits my objectives. Is it going to be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest? Am I going to build my own Portfolio online? Or am I going to send Newsletters to my followers? (Dena, 2015) Probably, I’ll do a combination of a few of them. Then, am I going to use my name or an alias? I think my name will be a better option.

But, this is not all. Now that I have created all my profiles in different social media networks, who is ever going to get to them and maybe, if Jupiter aligns with Saturn, give me a ‘Like’. It takes time to build an online community, to make people know me. So how do I become from being no one to be “I saw that girl’s work the other day and I really liked it! I’ll share it with you in Facebook”. Time, post, repost, share other people’s work, don’t make my profile just about me, being professional but at the same time being a person, not a computer, and then, one day after patience and consistency I’ll get what I want and become someone.

Bibliography

Dena, C. (2015, March 9). Week 6: Social Media and Your Career. Retrieved 16 July 2015, from https://medium.com/self-directed-practitioners/week-6-social-media-and-your-career-21ec52b2b003