​The social media platform that my group analyzed was Snapchat. As an everyday Snapchat user, I was surprised by how much I learned about the platform through this assignment.

 

One of the most important and valuable lessons that I learned through this assignment was that even Snapchat can be a useful tool for business. Snapchat allows business users to conveniently target a specific group of people. Additionally, companies can offer exclusive demonstrations & previews for new products, feature their followers and customers, and share promotional codes. Users can also  subscribe to various news sources and magazines to have access to their daily stories. 

​

I believe that my critical thinking skills that I have developed throughout the semester enabled me to succeed at this assignment. A specific example of my use of creative thinking was the use of the actual Snapchat platform to facilitate a class discussion at the end of the presentation. I feel that the class not only enjoyed the activity, but it gave students an engaging way to apply what they had just learned in our presentation. 

​

This assignment also helped me improve my group work and communication skills. My group worked together on the assignment from start to finish, which made the revision process much easier as all content was already cohesive and all group members were on the same page.

 

The class lectures that were most useful to me throughout this assignment were Digital Media & the Online World and Communication and Identity. These lectures were especially useful for the theoretical approach component of the assignment, as I could better connect and apply the Uses and Gratifications Theory, Social Penetration Theory, and Social Comparison Theory to the uses of the social media platform. 

​

Overall, I believe that my group and I excelled at this assignment due to our engaging presentation, interactive components, and real-world examples which helped students better understand the material that we presented.