The first social media influencing degree will soon be available from a university in Ireland.
Applications for the Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation and Social Media at Southeast Technical University in Carlow will be accepted starting in November.
It is scheduled to receive its first cohort of students in September 2024.
The four-year program will cover topics like business skills, audio and video editing, critical cultural studies, and creative writing.
Dr. Eleanor O’Leary, a lecturer in media and communications at the university, said there is a growing interest in the field from both prospective students and employers in an interview with Irish broadcaster RTÉ.
Graduates of the program, according to Dr. O’Leary, will be prepared to work independently as influencers or as content producers for businesses or organizations.
Dr. O’Leary told RTÉ that the industry has doubled in value since 2019 and is now valued at between €14bn and €16bn (£12bn-£14bn) globally.
“It’s an area that has a specific set of skills,” she said.
“It draws on existing media and PR and marketing skills but it’s a new area in and of itself as well.”
The course will teach students how to maintain an audience and how to work with businesses to monetize that audience, according to Dr. O’Leary, who acknowledged that influencer status can sometimes come about almost by accident.
“As someone who ‘stars’, creating content at home or by themselves, they may not have any understanding of that whole part of the industry where there are contracts and agencies, and business involved,” she said.
Source-BBC
