USING KOLB'S REFLECTIVE CYCLE AND THE USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY

In this article, I will reflect on my experience building my professional online presence. According to Tom Peters (1997), we must all recognise the importance of branding and recognise that we are the CEOs of our own businesses, Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important responsibility is to be the brand's top marketer. My reflection will call into question the efficacy of self-branding practices thought essential for success in a competitive industry. Kolb's (1984) reflective cycle and the Uses and Gratification theory (1974) will be used to analyse my learning experience in my reflection.

Elihu Katz and Jay Blumler introduced the Uses and Gratification theory in 1974 as a response to traditional mass communication research that focused on the sender and the message (Turney, 2016). The idea describes the link between media and how audiences use the media. It describes what individuals do with media as opposed to what media does to people (Communication Theory, 2016). According to Sarah (2016), the audience actively chooses and uses media to meet their needs and desires. The audience for my professional profile in this context, is prospective employers or colleagues whose desire is to learn about me, what I do, and see some of my work. Reflecting on my experience with developing my professional profile, this theory has allowed me to ask the proper questions regarding my professional profiles, which include my online portfolio, LinkedIn profile, and Instagram profile. Now I'm thinking: Is my target audience satisfied with what they see after actively searching for and selecting my profile? Is what I'm putting out what my audience wants to see about me? Are their needs being met? As noted above, I plan to analyse my learning experience using Kolb's (1984) reflective cycle. Kolb's reflective model is sometimes known as 'experiential learning.' This cycle explains an individual learning model that overlooks the historical, cultural, and social context of learning (Kolb 2021). This cycle comprises four stages: Concrete Experience (CE), Reflective Observation (RO), Abstract Conceptualization (AC), and Active Experimentation (AE) (Kolb 2021). Kolb (2021) noted in his book that these four stages might alternatively be described as experiencing/doing (CE), reflecting/observing (RO), thinking/thinking (AC), and acting/planning (AC) (AE). This reflective model illustrates the stages through which an individual converts experience into knowledge. These four steps will be used to analyse my experience of developing my professional profiles and how this experience has converted into knowledge.

I began working on improving my professional profile on my online portfolio and LinkedIn around 6 weeks ago. The first thing I did was Google myself to see what came up, and the only thing that showed up was my LinkedIn profile. I saw that my online portfolio did not appear, so I looked into why. I had just started a Digital Marketing course with Google Digital Garage at the time, and I understood that in order for my online portfolio to appear in organic search results, I needed to enhance my Search Engine Optimization (SEO).I discovered that I couldn't do so until I purchased a domain name. I emailed my seminar leader to inquire about the best approach to proceed, and I purchased one. Following that, I updated my online portfolio. For example, I added meta-tags to my website pages, as well as a blog area and more of my works. I also began to become more active on LinkedIn, posting more and commenting on others' posts. I completed the Digital Marketing course and shared the certificate on LinkedIn since I would like to major in Marketing. My professional profile improvement goals were to boost my chances of being seen by potential employers and to build a brand for myself.

This process of enhancing my professional profile reaffirmed my ambitions for a prospective career in the marketing or advertising sectors of the industry. Looking back, I realise how pleased I was and how easy it was for me to deal with the SEOs and make posts. I feel that this experience has made me more aware of my planning and organising abilities, which make me eligible to work in the media industry's marketing sector. I now realise that I utilised LinkedIn and Wix (initially) to establish my professional profiles and working on these profiles have made me aware of how many years of experience firms in the media sector want for an entry level position. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that this experience aided me in gaining greater engagement on my LinkedIn page and a year-long placement in the media industry's marketing sector. It is apparent that I received increased LinkedIn engagement and a placement in my preferred sector because I was able to provide what my audience was seeking for on my professional profiles, such as relevant credentials and postings to the sector.

This experience taught me how to network with people on LinkedIn, expanded my knowledge of SEO and marketing, and made me realise that I could be doing more things relevant to my preferred sector to increase my chances of being seen and gaining experience before graduating and looking for entry level jobs. When I next update my online portfolio or manage someone else's social media, I'll consider the Uses and Gratification theory and how the audience will use the media rather than what the media does to the audience, because if I can meet their needs, they'll be satisfied, and it will leave a positive impression. Because I recognise the significance of developing a professional profile and brand for myself, I will now maintain the new techniques I've learned over the last six weeks. Practising this will entail routinely updating my online portfolio, producing additional posts related to the marketing sector on LinkedIn, networking with individuals in the field on LinkedIn, and continuing to establish a brand for myself.

The purpose of this reflective essay was to analyse my experience of improving my professional profile and this experience has helped me to establish a brand for myself and network with people in my field. This was important for developing a career in the industry because with the use of the Uses and Gratifications theory, I now have an understanding of how broader changes have affected the appreciation of the kinds of subjective experiences of ‘work’ and the strategies used by workers to navigate their careers within an uncertain environment and using Kolb’s reflective cycle has confirmed my passion for the marketing sector of the media industry.

References

Communication Theory, 2016. uses and gratification theory [online]. Communication Theory. Available from: https://www.communicationtheory.org/uses-and-gratification-theory/ [Accessed 7 Mar 2022].

Katz, E., Blumler, J. and Gurevitch, M., 1973. Uses and Gratifications Research. Public Opinion Quarterly [online], 37 (4), 509. Available from: https://shibbolethsp.jstor.org/start?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp.bournemouth.ac.uk%2Foala%2Fmetadata&dest=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2747854&site=jstor [Accessed 7 Mar 2022].

Kolb, D., 2021. Experiential learning. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River (New Jersey): Pearson Education.

Peters, T., 1997. The Brand Called You. Fast Company [online]. Available from: https://www.fastcompany.com/28905/brand-called-you [Accessed 4 Mar 2022].

Turney, S., 2016. Uses and Gratifications Theory | Sarah Turney 473 [online]. Sites.psu.edu. Available from: https://sites.psu.edu/sarahturney/uses-and-gratifications-theory/ [Accessed 7 Mar 2022].