Media class? This should be easy because I use media everyday therefore I know everything already.
WRONG. Heads up! You probably do not know as much as you think you know about the media. The media is so much 
more than google, pages that google recommends, YouTube, and social media. Although those are a form of media, do you really think that is what one learns about in a media class? It may be in a few years because that is what our world is beginning to evolve around, but for now.. it is not.
One may question, how does she know this?
I am a current college student as Missouri State University and since my time here, I have taken two courses on media. My favorite one was Media 130 taught by Professor Adam Wagner. This is not the ordinary college courses where you go sit in a lecture for fifty to seventy-five minutes every other day. This is a hands on class where the students are able to get involved one on one and are able to express their opinion without being judged. Everything discussed below is what I have learned in just a semester of being in this course.
Mind changing!
The biggest aspect that one will learn and can take away from this class is the different perspectives that everyone see’s daily on the internet. I can not thank my professor enough for steadily going over this day after day. Although it may annoying to some people to hear the same information over and over again, it will stick with them. Learning that other people’s perspectives and train of thought is not to say one is wrong, it is to show that other people can also be right. Listening to the podcast below will help one receive a more in-depth understanding of what I am saying:
It is everywhere.
Internet. It is a way of life now. Everyone carries it in their pocket, in their purse, or in the 
back pocket. When one gets home, it is there, too. It is the place where people express their opinions, and sometimes they do it without even noticing. It is where high school and college students receive their answers to receive their diploma. Although anything can be found on the internet, who knew that one could get lost for hours from watching viral videos after viral videos or reading blog after blog.
YouTube.. I mean, viral videos.
To start out, do you even know what a viral video is?
Try this.. A viral video is a video that has received over one million views.
Now, you are thinking that making a video go viral is easy. Again, WRONG. During the Media 130 courses, I worked with a group of students in attempt to make one. It is very difficult and time-consuming. The creators and editors want to make sure that every piece of information in the video is perfect. A viral video can consist of anything. It can be hysterical, scary, depressing, a trail for a movie coming out soon, or even just a music video.
Here is three quick steps that I learned throughout the course for making a viral video:
1. Make it WAY in advance of the date you want it to go viral.
2. Be open-minded to what relates to the public and what they enjoy watching.
3. Make the content easy to understand.
Those are just three quick general steps to make any genre of video. Realize that there is more to be put into consideration if you are wanting to make a viral video, but the rest is up to you on what kind of video you want to make and to get the task completed.
“Blogs are so long and educational.”
When people hear of the word “blog” they immediately begin to think that are going to be reading about something 
similar to what they would in class. Actually, blogs are totally different. They can be long or short, funny or serious, or anything in-between. When entering this class, I thought reading a blog was a waste of my time, which is why I probably only read a couple.
When I was told I had to actually publish blogs throughout this semester, I thought my life was over. I became terrified and wanted to ball up in my bed in cry. Of course, I could not do that if I wanted to finish the class with an A so I dragged myself out of bed a couple of hours before it was due, found my computer, and sat down to completely my very first blog. I hated it.
I continued to play attention in class and the biggest aspect I learned was do not write it like an academic paper. You want the blog to be eye-catching. The blogger tries to engage the audience with pictures, colors, length, and eye-catching aspects that a viewer can just scroll down and find the part that they want to read about.
My favorite aspect about blogs that I did not know was it is free to express your own opinion. Blog’s are all over the internet. Anyone can post one about anything they chose to. This is where other people’s perspectives, that I was talking about earlier, come into play. Everyone has their own thoughts, but how someone interprets and react to other people’s thoughts is on them.
The biggest pain.. ever.
Have you ever listened to someone talk on the internet without every seeing their face? This is called a podcast. I have learned that podcast are a huge pain in the butt. Although, some people do enjoy making them. I personally do not ike making podcast because for the simple fact, I hate listening to my own voice. It sounds so different then when I am talking to someone else. I also do not enjoy podcast because I like seeing the person’s expression on their face. I feel like this shows exactly how the one publishing it, wants the viewer to interpret it.
On the other hand, with podcast there is very little reading. Listening to someone speak is so much easier than reading words after words on this long page.
“I should not have to write like I am in school.”
No, you should not have to write like it is an academic paper, but the information you publish should be spelled correctly, organized well, and resentenced in a clean manner. The more accurate one is throughout their blog, podcast, or video, 
the more reliable they become. After a few post of being reliable, one may start to become very creditable. This will help whatever one published gain more views, likes, and comments.
Online content is very very important to establish correctly. After a while, no one wants to read a blog, listen to a podcast, or watch a video if several words are spelled wrong or many words are mispronounced. It just becomes annoying to view. So next time you decide to publish content, proofread several times before you publish it. This way people want to come back to your site and continue to read your new published content.
Our generations favorite.. social media.
Social media is something that has been adapted into our culture with the newer generations. With social media being a huge part in today’s society, everything can be shared through them. Scrolling through Facebook, we all see a post that someone has shared saying “Top 14” reasons or a music video shared. Seeing all these shares is what makes a video goes viral or what makes a blog have hundreds of comments.
Before publishing, figure out way days you have the most friends on the social media site that you are going to share it on. Also, share it during a time frame when the family is sitting at home relaxing. They will then show it to each other which then can be passed on through more people. Keep that in mind because it will help you content spread quicker.
Give it a shot!
Now that you have been overloaded with a quick preview of what I have learned throughout the course of a semester, take these ideas and go publish your own. I know that for a fact I will continue working on creating entertaining video’s and blogs for anyone to read. It is all in your hands now, go for it!
Shelby Nicole 