Buckle Up with Brooke

Throughout our spring semester, we studied the "Essentials of Social Media Marketing" textbook to further our understanding of social media. We studied the textbook through a program called Stukent. Stukent involves students interactively with up-to-date information. At the end of each chapter, the author gave an analysis of the actions of the different platforms during the pandemic. In addition, Stukent provided slide decks, expert sessions and quizzes at the end of each chapter. Personally, I took advantage of the provided tools. I wrote my notes with my screen split to see the slides and my document. After each chapter, I went back to take the quiz to test my comprehension of the content. Honestly, some chapters were better than others, but you live and learn.  This semester opened my eyes to the world of social media marketing. I had no clue the amount of detail business accounts provide for users. Business accounts are a great tool for anyone attempting to accomplish a b

I am shocked as ever that this is technically our last week of classes. It's hard to comprehend how fast my freshman year of college has gone. Thankfully, I am blessed to say I plan on returning to Ohio Northern University in the fall. This place has made an incredible impact on my life, and I want to continue a path toward success here. When I committed to Ohio Northern University, I decided not to declare an official major. Quite frankly, I had zero clue what I wanted to do for a living. I knew I had a passion for writing and appreciated networking with peers. High school also taught me a love for math. The number one subject I wanted to avoid was science. I hate science. By not deciding on my major, I was given Dr. Aggie as my advisor who of course, put me into a public relations course in the fall. I must say when I saw public relations on my schedule, I thought it was a blowoff class. I remember telling my parents how public relations was going to be "light work." Lo

Social media marketing campaigns are the base for companies looking to achieve a marketing or business goal in today's world. The days of paying for a billboard or radio ad are nearly diminished. I have talked frequently about how social media has taken over the world, and it is so true.  Social media marketing campaigns are carefully planned and executed by a team. It is imperative that the campaigns have a start and end date to ensure consistent productivity.  A campaign’s team members are delegated specific tasks within the total campaign.  Social media marketing campaigns can be created by large companies like Nabisco or smaller companies like a local boutique. When creating a campaign, teams use the AIDA model. The AIDA model stands for attention, interest, desire and action. These attributes help reveal the best ways to appeal to the target audiences. When the target audiences are reached, it is only a matter of time before the company will see the true effects of its campaig

Easter weekend gave me a taste of the reality of summer break approaching, and I am so excited. Summer is right around the corner. Of course, there are positives and negatives to this truth. The positives are seeing my family again, starting my summer jobs and being tan. I won't lie, I am looking forward to being tan the most. On the other hand, I have a great deal of coursework to finish before I am done this semester. It is surreal to me that freshman year has passed so quickly.  I spent the entire weekend with my mom's extended family. It was a major bummer to miss the holiday with my dad's extended family, but this was the first time I was able to have a holiday with my mom's side all year. My twin got Covid-19 in the fall, which canceled Thanksgiving. Then my papa and uncle got Covid-19 in the winter so we canceled Christmas. Our colliding schedules have made it near impossible to reschedule these holidays and birthday celebrations. Needless to say, my nana was thr

One of the last topics we are covering in our social media course is podcasts. Podcasts are a great way for viewers to feel connected to the creators. They offer personal interactions about a variety of topics. Podcasts can be formatted into episodes and are usually led by at least one person. Since the pandemic, podcasts have grown immensely. People turned to podcasts for a sense of reassurance and authenticity in their struggles. They were the voices that the people needed to hear. Ammryn and I chose to work on our podcast together, which I do not think was a surprise to anyone. What could go wrong with Ammryn and I partnering on an assignment where talking is the first criterion? We chose to focus on the issue of authenticity on social media for the assignment. It is hard to figure out when a social media page is showing its true colors. Nothing aggravates me more than when a social media page is a highlight reel. It creates an unrealistic image for followers to have in their heads.

Spring has sprung, which means baseball season has taken over my family's lives. My twin brother plays collegiate baseball for Owen's Community College, and my younger brother plays travel baseball for Buckeye Elite. It was a huge step for my younger brother to start playing travel baseball. He is only 10 years old, so all of his classmates are still playing for Woodmore. Hunter and I went through the same transition around his age. Looking back at the decision, it was the best for our athletic careers. Travel sports expose you to a whole new level of competition. Everyone who is playing wants to be there, and they want to get better.  My little brother's team has been dominating tournaments. They have won the last four tournaments and were runner-up in the first one. I am impressed with the dedication my little brother has shown toward his team. To enhance his game, he is going to a trainer to work on mobility and strength. Again, my little brother is only 10 years old, so

  Baja Team Background: The Ohio Northern Baja Team was established in 2009. An interesting fact about the team is that it competes nationally against schools in different divisions. Ohio Northern’s College of Engineering is the central location of the Baja Team. Throughout its time, the team has struggled to gain members with the intimidation factor of the tasks. The team is comprised of an executive board, which has a president, project manager, and treasurer; and a design team, which has a person dedicated to the frame, suspension/steering, ergonomics, brakes, data acquisition, and drivetrain. In total, the current group has eight members, which are mostly upperclassmen. The goal of the Baja Team is to simulate real-world engineering design projects and compete with their designs. The time commitment of any Baja Team is year-round. The team competes at SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) Events during the summer, fall, and spring. The team has traveled across the country to states

Tik Tok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world. Personally, I am obsessed with Tik Tok. I was an avid Musically user so when it switched to Tik Tok, I had to check it out. It is so easy to get caught down a loophole on the app. The videos are no longer than three minutes, so my attention span is kept well. I have gone Tik Tok viral once or twice, but there was no method to the posts. From a marketing standpoint, Tik Tok has helped companies immensely. The flow of the app makes it easy to sneak in an ad or two without the viewer even noticing. In addition, a great number of brand deals are promoted on the app. My favorite videos are clothing hauls or product reviews from random people on the app. Somehow, I seem to trust the reviews when I have no background on their credibility. My mom used Tik Tok to research the 'must haves' for my dorm room. She watched countless videos from people reviewing what items were busts or were great in their college expe

I had the opportunity to travel to Pittsburgh for a PRSSA firms trip. Honestly, I was extremely hesitant about going on the trip, but I am so glad that I went on it. I started my day by waking up at 4:45 a.m. to go to voluntary conditioning. At 6:45 a.m., I left voluntary conditioning to shower. This was probably the fastest shower I have ever taken because I wanted to ensure that I had time to do my hair. We loaded the bus around 8:40 a.m. and were off on an adventure. The bus was silent for a great portion of the ride. Thankfully, we stopped at a gas station where we all grabbed some form of caffeine, and the rest of the ride went by in a blink of an eye.  My favorite part of the weekend was the firms' tours. As a freshman, the world of public relations is very new. I didn't know the difference between agency and corporate companies until I listened to the speakers. We toured a smaller agency, Red Havas, and a global agency, Burson Cohn and Wolfe. I used to believe that I wan