Tweet like a master
Academics at Birmingham City University have been using Twitter to fight back against critics of its Social Media Masters Degree.
The news that the £4,400 MA course will be available from September broke soon after draft plans were announced to introduce Twitter, Wikipedia and blogging into the primary school curriculum.
The course at Birmingham City University covers social media topics like how to start a blog and podcasting techniques, as well as Facebook, Twitter and Bebo.
It will consider the development and direction of social media as a creative industry, contributing new research and knowledge to the field. It is being advertised through a video on the university's website - where else?
The MA has been slated by critics as being overly simple and a waste of university resources.
On one hand, it could be viewed as jumping on the bandwagon, that the shelf life of Twitter and Facebook is limited and the teachings will soon become as redundant as the technology, as it is replaced by something new.
On the other hand, just because social media is relatively new and subject to growth and change, should we ignore it? The subject matter will clearly be relevant to anyone who is set to work in the communications industry – these new forms of communication are not going to go away. The names may change as one site or forum is replaced by another more popular form – but social media is only going to develop.
However, does it warrant an entire degree to itself?
Social media is just one weapon in the PR and communications arsenal. Is it really substantial enough to fill an entire year?
Does its inclusion as a degree subject in its own right provide grist to the mill of those who say the university degree is constantly being devalued by the introduction of non-academic subjects? Let’s not forget that there was a time, not so long ago, that PR degrees were frowned upon, both inside and outside the profession.