TEDxCL Reflection

What I knew Starting Out

When I first chose this topic I knew a lot of the basics about social media, like some of the positives and negatives that I covered in my talk. I knew that social media was good to help raise money, build relationships, and form communities. I also knew the negatives, such as cyber bullying, addiction, and mental/health issues. Although I knew the broad genres of social media use I did not know the details to both positives or negatives. For example out of everyone that sees cyber bullying occur, only 10% report it. It was facts and research like this that really opened my eyes to the benefits and downfalls of social media.

Why I Selected This Topic

The reason why I picked this topic is because it related to everyone in the classroom and arguably in the school. In our world today over 85% of teens and younger adults have smartphones and use social media daily, whether that is texting, snapchatting, going on Instagram, or tweeting. My goal was to inform my audience of the positives and negatives of social media so that they could better themselves. At the end of my presentation after stating the good and bad elements to social media I stated that I believe overall social media is bad and the negatives outweigh the positives. I also said that it really depended on how we ourselves used the platform. An over use of social media could lead to serious issues and those issues surround others like me, such as all of my classmates.

What I Learned--Research

When I began to research, there was a lot of opinionated states that did not have real scientific studies or data along with the statements. This was probably the most frustrating part of the researching step but when I found real data with good sources it was very rewarding to know that I had factual information that could be backed up by studies and experts. I found most of my information on websites. The information was heavily found through surveys and studies, but there was also a mix of health facts that were found from testing. One of my many key facts supported my claim that social media can save lives through donating. It said that roughly 69% of Americans would donate through social media(Global NGO Online Tech Report). Along with this key fact, I learned that out of all the suicides in the world 30% are from social media and in 2021, the world is expected to see over 1.4 million suicides(NGO). The facts in my presentation came from a lot of hard work and research. In my class time I used it to research and find supporting evidence to my key points. I utilized it very well and although I worked hard, there were times were I was distracted and distracted others in my class.

What I Learned--Presentations

Some of my challenges heading into my live presentation was when I practiced by myself my time averaged around 11 minutes and 40 seconds when our presentations should have been between 8-10 minutes. Another issue while coming into presenting was trying to figure out how to utilize my note cards without constantly staring at them or making a mess while flipping them over. To overcome these two challenges, I had to talk a bit faster than usual and I had to spare some of my facts that did not have a big impact on my presentation to improve my time, and in order to make sure that I did not stare at my note cards I tried to memorize my facts and information. I think that my presentation went pretty well. I had a good time, so I succeeded with cutting down on my time. One thing I think that I did not do so well was speak clearly. I started a few times and slowed down my train of thought, but besides this it went well. In the future I think that I nee to work on speaking in front of larger groups of people, and just speaking slowly and clearly. 

What The Audience Learned

When presenting my goal was to change the audiences perspective and get them to take action. I think that I competed at least one of the two goals. I believe that I changed the perspective of the audience because when I researched my topic my own perspective was changed as well. The information I presented not only looked at the normal positives of social media, but also the negatives that most people do not think of. I think I failed at getting them to take action just because I believe that we are all so accustomed to using our devices and social media that it would take more than a talk or reality check to change our use of social media. 

Advice To Future Students

Some advice that I would give to future students taking this class and doing this presentation is to take advantage of the time in class and not only practice, but practice in front of as many people as you can. Try to get something done everyday in class and at home so that when it comes to the due date you are able to make sure that everything is done on time and done right. I would recommend practicing for sure, but especially in front of as many people as possible. Going through your presentation by yourself is easy to do, but doing it in front of people challenges you to act like you are actually presenting and it loosens up the nerves.