Time to Get Social: One Young Adult’s Journey Into Social Media

If you had told me six months ago that I would have an internship with a social media company, I probably would have laughed at you. I didn’t use Twitter, LinkedIn, or know a single thing about blogs. The only social media platforms I used regularly were Facebook, Photobucket, and the occasional message board. The only reason I looked to message boards was because they were among the few websites that my high school had not blocked. Before Facebook became available to high school students, we used Jewster, a Jewish version of Friendster (it was the thing for Jewish kids to do, I swear!). The website quickly lost appeal the day Facebook opened itself to high school students. Sometime in my freshman year of high school, I hopped on the Facebook train and left Jewster behind.

At the time, Facebook was newsfeed-less, app-less, chat-less, and page-less. It’s amazing to think back and try to remember what the heck I was spending so much time doing on Facebook before those features were added. Nonetheless, I was addicted, and so was everyone else in high school and college. I remember the uproars that happened then and still happen when big upgrades would remodel Facebook, eventually leading to the page we are almost all familiar with today. Connecting with friends from all over was amazing, but I never would have imagined a website that I could use to connect with old teachers, distant relatives, and my old camp counselors (although I still am not ready to make the leap to actually “friend” a friend’s parent, my parents, or employers).

After ragging on my boyfriend for well over a month because of his newfound Twitter obsession, I decided to take the leap to the micro-blogging website, thinking it would be a smart move as I started my summer internship search. I quickly saw how effective Twitter could be for businesses and for spreading news, and it didn’t take me long to become obsessed myself. I tried to be smart about my postings, gearing it towards food as I was looking to get my foot in the door in the restaurant business. Within the first month of my Twitter use, I made a connection to someone in one of the local restaurant groups that I hoped would lead to a great internship. Turns out that it didn’t come to fruition, but I gained valuable experience about appropriate Twitter use for those in business.

I learned about many internship positions from Facebook and Twitter, many of which I applied to and later was interviewed for. The interview experience I gained through this process was invaluable. Being able to hear about these opportunities through social media platforms helped me realize just how important this medium is. I found the internship opportunity at Everywhere by visiting another website. As you may have guessed, I happily ended up interning at Everywhere where I am learning about using social media effectively for businesses and campaigns and that social media should be a conversation between a business and its audience.

In the end, I think of social media as my future and as my generation’s future. My growing understanding on how to use social media effectively will be a highly valued skill as I start my post-grad job search in the upcoming year, and I have Everywhere to thank for allowing me the opportunity to learn and work in this industry.

Alexa is a rising senior at Emory University and will graduate in the spring with a psychology degree. She aspires to work in marketing and public relations for the restaurant industry.