The “Essentials of Social Media Marketing” Textbook Review

    

    No one likes reading a textbook. Every year students log on to buy codes and books that will most likely just sit on a shelf and collect dust until it’s time to return them at the end of the semester. That’s exactly how I felt buying this book. I couldn’t understand how you put information about social media in a textbook, something just seemed off. And on top of that, it was an online textbook, something I’ve never been fond of. Staring at a screen, losing my place while reading, and forgetting my login information is just so frustrating. To me, there’s just something about having the actual book in front of me that helps me comprehend the information. Although I will say, my back did thank me for having one less book in my bag. 

    For my principles of social media class, we used Stukent’s “Essentials of Social Media Marketing” textbook and simulation. I had never used Stukent before so trying to figure out how to use the online software took some getting used to, but once I did it was smooth sailing. I really enjoyed how the book was broken down by not only the chapter but also each heading as well. Once you clicked on the chapter you wanted to read, all of the headings appeared below so you could jump from section to section. Another thing I found valuable was the highlighting and annotation feature. It was super easy to use and customize, and I liked that all of my annotations were organized in one place. The actual content of the book was ok. It was definitely more exciting than other textbooks I’ve read before and included examples that were easy for me to relate to and understand. It was written in a way that people who don’t have a lot of knowledge about the topic will be able to understand and I appreciated that. However, sometimes things seemed repetitive or drawn out too much. For example, bullet-pointed lists with no real explanation or even some headings that didn’t seem relevant to mention. 

    Overall I enjoyed the book. The quizzes at the end of each chapter were helpful, the videos and graphics were easy to read and relatable, and even though it was online, I was still able to comprehend what I was reading. While there were some drawbacks, this textbook was very reliable and helped me learn more about social media marketing in a fun and easy way! I would recommend it to anyone looking for a starting point.