Mikael Michalik's Learning Journey

 Almost all content creation is involved in some sort of advertising and, with the creator-centric model of the internet, most everyone has become an advertiser in their own right. Even before the internet we acted as advertising for businesses, brands, and products. In real life we wear clothes with obvious logos and brand names, we use branded tools, and we recommend restaurants and products we have enjoyed. The internet only amplifies these advertising behaviors.  Electronic word of mouth (EWOM), as discussed by Michael Luca and Previte et al., has helped to enhance word out mouth recommendations. Word of mouth is the process by which something is advertised through its customers who recommend or discuss the business with others. In the past, with limited reach, word of mouth was mainly spread through friends and families. However, with the connectivity of the internet, strangers can provide reviews of anything to anyone. Sites like Yelp allow people to post reviews, both positive a

 I've used LinkedIn for a while now and, as such, am somewhat familiar with it already. In fact, I had already accidentally completed many of the assignment requirements, such as connecting with people and following companies. I have found that LinkedIn is easy to use and very user-friendly. The fact that I had already done many of the things listed in the assignment shows how organic the site's features are, as I made no conscious efforts to connect with people or follow companies yet had done it anyways. It's easy to make a professional-looking profile, connect with contacts, and search for job opportunities. I mostly use LinkedIn for internship and job hunting rather than communicating with individuals. I've found its search feature is straightforward and more efficient than many other job-searching sites. It also makes the job application process much easier, sometimes allowing an easy-apply option that is pre-filled with some information added to my profile. Even i

 Guo (2019) and Muriuki (2022) both made very interesting points about how social media influences our experiences with more traditional media like movies. Many times I've seen people flocking to social media to comment on television and movies while or right after watching them. Some even comment beforehand, going off of trailers and second-hand information. However, their discussions of movie watching becoming more social and engaging because of social media felt lacking because they neglected to mention one of, in my opinion, the most important advances in social movie watching: Group streaming. With apps like Discord or Zoom where people can share screens and computer audio with groups of people, distance and time don't have to prevent people from enjoying television or movies together. I have watched episodes of television shows along with friends and strangers both near (Gainesville) and far (Europe). This isn't even a new concept. Twitch did a similar thing years ago