MA Social Media

Here’s another translation courtesy of Simona Serban, our of MA Social Media students:

My Space, Vimeo, LinkedIn – in only several years, social media networks showed an exponential growth. Everybody knows it. But how do we build this kind of networks? What does one have to do in order to work in the virtual market? To know it, one has to go to England, Birmingham, where we can find one of the first universities in the world offering a course for social media consultants. Those who graduate are sure to work in the cybermarket. Elisabeth zu Eulenburg went back to school for us.
Looking at these grey buildings from the 60s, one wouldn’t imagine that in here we can find the students that chose the “career of the future”. They familiarise themselves with online social media and learn to use them professionally. They come from Asia, America, Africa and Europe. Dave Harte is the award leader. It is him that created this new course.
Dave Harte: “What is their impact on social relations? Are they more democratic than other forms of media? If some users are better than others, does this mean they have a higher social potential? Should we establish a hierarchy between these different kinds of users? This is the type of questions we ask ourselves here.”
Social networks link hundreds of millions of users around the world. They grow daily and create new types of links. Needless to say, these links are subsequently exploited economically. If a business spots the network corresponding to its target audience, success is guaranteed. And it’s here that social media students will take action.
Simona Serban: “I was looking at some jobs websites, the ones that have banks of CVs. Now they have special sections for jobs in social media. And this is developing, even the European institutions are starting to do this.”
Stephen Croome: “Companies have very traditional IT skills, but they don’t have anybody to make strategies that include the latest technological innovations. I intend to sell my skills to help companies position themselves on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc”
For their studies, the future web experts don’t need anything more than their heads, and a computer. This is why Dave Harte’s course takes place at least once per week in a café. Controller, user, politician or advertiser, all search for the best way to use these communication platforms. Here, students don’t learn only how to exploit them, but they are also interested in the future. How will social media shape our lives?
Stephen Croome: “I always had the idea that the increase in online communication allows people to get more involved in democracy. And seeing how this is evolving, I find it really interesting”
Dave Harte: “We may now have the means to connect worldwide, but the things that matter most in our lives stay local. The things that matter in my life are how clean my street is, how noisy my neighbours are.”
If it is in Birmingham that this course was born, it is not by coincidence. The city has a very strong web community and the project Digital Birmingham aims to connect all inhabitants in one network. The ones that don’t have an Internet connection will access it via digital television. The goal is for social media to help in managing daily life and re-launch the city’s economy.
A consultation for “digital emergencies” takes place once a week. One can get help when faced with an Internet problem, while for the students it is a good practical exercise.
“I came here for my blog, the last time they helped me create it, now we’re going to improve it. And here it is, it’s ready!”
Stephen Croome: “It’s often a bit of a challenge, because we don’t know what they are going to ask us”.
Simona Serban: “This allows us to understand people’s expectations and concerns on the web. Most of the time, they are technical questions.”
After work, like all other students, these web experts go to the pub. Here they discuss without a computer and drink real beer…at least most of them.
Our programme finishes here. And if you say “this is too much for me”, we answer “no problem”. It’s enough to disconnect – a German site like http://www.ausgestiegen.com tells you why and how to erase all your accounts on social networks and still continue living normally. You can find a link to this site and an interview with its creator on Arte.tv/Europe. Good-bye, and don’t forget, Europe loves you!