The work below was completed during my Strategic Communications Major capstone course at Elon. The aim of this course "Great Ideas: Issues & Research", was to use research, previously learned knowledge, and critical thinking to tackle an issue related to the world of media and communications which lacks current research. Our two projects throughout the semester were a solo research paper and a 45-minute group seminar, each centered on a topic of discussion. The APA-style research paper below is a professional and lengthy dissection of the relationship between student perceptions of social media marketing, and how small businesses leverage their marketing to stand out from the crowd within a saturated, online space. The presentation below summarizes the key points from my paper which I presented to the class. The final presentation "Big Tech & Data Collection" was the group seminar we presented regarding the ethical & social issues of data collection by big tech companies, and its ubiquitous nature.