The growing number of bloggers, Instagrammers, and YouTubers seem to have created a need for the degree course. Many young kids follow their chosen social media influencers and, at least at some point in their lives, want to be like them.
Well, social media influencing is no longer learned just in workshops learned in workshops or on the side. An online university eCampus now offers a new three-year degree program in social media influencing. Yes, you read that right. The only requirement is a high school diploma.
For tuition that costs 3,900 euros per year, or around $4,300 (Php217,000), the program promises to “fill the current educational gap” and help students learn technical skills to pursue a career as a social media influencer.
“Many people have misinterpreted the fact that trying to be an influencer and knowing how to work with influencer marketing and personal branding are not the same thing,” Maurizio Pasquetti, head of marketing at eCampus, said in a phone interview with Bloomberg. “There is specific and technical knowledge that you need to master.”
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These skills include taking classes such as fashion psychology, philosophy of language, TV history, intercultural communication, and information technology, among others. It also covers visual communication, photography, photo-editing, web design, and video storytelling, as well as the business side of the trade with classes such as social media marketing and start-up business economics.
During the three-year course, students will also get to create their own content. But they are not just taught to take selfies, Pasquetti stressed to CBSNews. The students are also taught “how to understand metrics on Facebook and other social media platforms, so they understand their results and what works and what doesn’t,” he said.
The social media influence degree program is also a fit for young corporate professionals planning to design or implement marketing strategies that may involve social media influencers.
The 13-year-old Italy-based eLearning institution also offers degrees in engineering, law, arts, and psychology, has more than 30,000 students. It aims to enroll 500 students in the program, and a few dozen students are already enrolled just days after it was announced.
This isn’t the first time a university offered a course that paves the way towards a career in social media influencing. The American University in Dubai also offers a similar six-course diploma program that even includes public speaking.
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