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Almost every employer, from Nike to Netflix, has a social media presence. On this exciting new course you’ll develop cutting edge and highly transferable skills to meet the growing need for social media managers.
Become an expert in social media platforms with the ability to create, curate and share content, and analyse and engage online audiences. Learn media law, with the unique opportunity to gain an additional qualification recognised by leading employers nationally.
Gain valuable skills in the management of social media channels and online communities, while developing your personal online brand.
Use cutting-edge tools as part of an experimental approach to content creation, tracking and reaching audiences. Develop transferable skills in self-management, critical reasoning, interpersonal awareness, communication and presentation. Take optional modules from media and marketing courses to enhance the flexibility of the course and your skill set.
In our innovative mediaHUB you’ll work on live websites and social channels, and rub shoulders with BBC Newcastle digital journalists and content creators as you prepare for a rewarding career in the creative industries.
Get to know Spark, Fashion North, Northern Lights, SR News, and Sportsbyte, our students' award-winning websites for local news, local sport, fashion and arts and entertainment.
This course will enable you to develop key skills identified as areas of high demand by employers. You’ll be working alongside leading researchers and experienced industry professionals, including Rich Keith, Chief Revenue Officer of Yogscast, a YouTube network with over 23 million subscribers and 100m monthly views.
In your first year you will realign your understanding of social media as a professional business tool. You will learn how to get the most out of existing social media platforms and begin to create content using the latest visual and storytelling tools. You’ll also begin to look at online audience behaviour and use data to analyse and manage those audiences, engaging in academic arguments about the role of social media and digital communities. To support your social media skills you’ll also learn essential journalism techniques like how to identify a story and a clear angle, enhancing your ability to communicate through social media. You’ll also learn media law to ensure you are legally safe to publish social media content, and you’ll learn the basic public relations principles of protecting and building a brand.
In the second year you’ll continue to develop your content creation skills, learning short-form video production, and data analysis and visualisation. You’ll also be learning to develop social media and PR strategies for businesses and putting learning into practice on an industry placement. This culminates in the final year when you’ll work on a social media management project developing a strategy, producing content and managing audiences for a specific client. Meanwhile, you’ll consolidate your PR skills, master online community management theory and practice, and experiment with the latest digital content creation tools from 360 video to AI, to enhance your third year social media project.
In February 2019, the UK Government announced that it will make social media companies sign a legally-binding code of conduct that imposes on them a duty of care towards young users. This is a welcome change following the case of 14-year-old Molly Russell, who took her own life in 2017.
Find out how and why social media should be regulated
A few years ago, the idea of being a ‘Social Media Manager’ would have been almost laughable – how hard can it be to ‘manage’ your notifications!? Social media is so much more than taking selfies, instagramming your breakfast or sharing memes on Facebook though, it’s a powerful business tool that has resulted in an explosion of exciting jobs and careers.
Find out where a degree in social media can take you
Thinking about a creative degree but unclear about the career prospects? Here are some compelling reasons for a career in the creative sector.
Discover some compelling reasons for a career in the creative sector
Our typical offer is 112-120 UCAS points from a minimum of two A Levels or equivalent (e.g. 1 x AVCE double award).
We accept a maximum of 6 points from Level 3 Key Skills qualifications. We also require three passes at GCSE grade C or above, which must include Mathematics and English Language, or a minimum of Level 2 Key Skills in Communication and Application of Number. If you have studied for a GCSE which has a numerical grade then you will need to achieve a grade 4 or above.
If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.
The annual, full-time fee for this course is:
The part-time fee for this course is £6,935 per 120 credits.
If you are not sure whether you qualify as a UK, EU or international student, find out more in our Help and Advice article.
Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.
This information was correct at the time of publication.
This degree prepares you for an exciting career in social media management, marketing and the digital industry. It is also highly relevant to many positions in industry, commerce and the Civil Service, as well as to jobs in the arts and voluntary sectors.
Rub shoulders with BBC Newcastle journalists, get advice from former Sky News journalists and see a Newsroom in action in our innovative mediaHUB. Students are responsible for all news-gathering, programme production and advertising.
Other opportunities for real-world experience available on campus include Spark online magazine, Fashion North, SR-News, Northern Lights and SportsByte, which are all linked to our Journalism and Media courses.
Be inspired by our academics and their strong industry contacts. We have excellent links with national employers, social media managers and bloggers across the country. These include Armani, BBC, ITV, Michael Kors, NHS Trust, Sky, Traidcraft and Premier League football clubs - all destinations for recent graduates of our media courses. We also have strong ties with regional media, public relations and marketing companies and students will have the opportunity to network with prospective clients and employers.
Rub shoulders with regional and national high-profile journalists such as Kevin Maguire, Associate Editor at the Daily Mirror and Visiting Professor in Journalism at the University, and ITV News Correspondent Alastair Stewart. Both regularly visit the University along with a host of experienced journalists to give insight into the industry via masterclasses and lectures.
Broaden your horizons through inspiring trips. Recently students have enjoyed visits to London fashion masterclasses, press access to Wembley finals and Europa league games at FC Shalke 04 in Germany.
All students studying on-campus undergraduate media courses can take up a CV-enhancing work placement, a University-led industry initiative, or a professional and business development boot camp. By the term placement, we are offering you a taste of the industry which might last anything from two days to four weeks on a part-time basis.
Our students and graduates have been making a splash, winning awards and prizes across the board.
The University of Sunderland is a hot bed of enthusiasm, expertise and initiative.
Thanks to my tutor, I secured a two-week placement with the BBC.
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