Data: LJ3

 Third Learning Journal

Reflections

    Understanding social media and it's power requires the ability to analyze data. Understanding impressions, followers, engagement, and click-through are some of the important basics of social media power. There are teams dedicated to measuring and analyzing engagement, management who's job is to optimize engagement, and campaigns designed based on this engagement. 

    Many people get alarmed when told that AI and programs are used to track this data and fear it. They hear words like "analytics," and "artificial intelligence," and feel that their privacy is being infringed upon. I understand wanting to maintain privacy, but tracking clicks and impressions is hardly an infringement of any privacy. Any site you may use can easily implement the ability to get insights on this engagement data. 

    I'd like to reflect on the recent changes in Twitter and it's platform. If you've spent any time in recent weeks on Twitter, watching the news, or other social media platforms you have an idea of what is happening. If not, Elon Musk purchased Twitter for a loss based on a tweet he made a few years ago. 

    Elon started charging for the infamous verified checkmark, then rolled it back due to mass backlash. This happened again with further changes and updates he was attempting to make on the app. Musk has proceeded to lay off large numbers of employees, make ridiculous demands of remaining employees, and is now joking about Twitter being a "non-profit." It's tragic, frustrating, and just downright silly. To think a multibillionaire cannot manage something he bought that was already working just fine. 

    Information and data travels quickly and I learn more every day about the API's and programming surrounding it. It's been an interesting couple of weeks for social media enterprises and I do look forward to the future changes. Will Twitter burn to the ground? Probably not? Time will tell.