Starting on June 19, the "Writing for Social Media" course will be offered for graduate and undergraduate students to learn about new ways of writing rhetorically in social media spaces and to cultivate marketable skills for the professional world.
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By: Chelsea Cabral
With the explosive growth and reach of social media, job and marketing professionals are in need of candidates with training and skills in how to write for social media. To help meet that need, UMass Dartmouth’s “Writing for Social Media” course is being offered as a hybrid (online and face-to-face class time) course this summer.
The course helps students to engage in conversation about new ways of writing and interacting in online spaces. “The course is highly beneficial especially as many employers are looking for social media expertise, experience in understanding how to write for diverse audiences and platforms, and how to create marketing campaigns that are sustainable,” said English Professor Katie DeLuca, who will be instructing the course. “It makes candidates, especially graduate students, very marketable on the job-search.”
In today’s digital marketplace, relevant and effective use of social media is vital for jobs and driving global digital citizenship. The course has multiple applications that range from learning about the theoretical and rhetorical perspectives of social media, developing compelling content for certain audiences, enhancing writing and networking skills, and even understanding the larger significance of social media and its context in the working world.
“This course will give students a glimpse into the different ways and skillsets that drive a lot of our everyday engagements,” said DeLuca. “Critical writing and reading in social media spaces are not only important for professionalization, but also in being an engaged citizen.”
Offered from June 19-August 8, students will be able to familiarize themselves with different social media platforms, writing genres, and be able to tackle exciting self-led projects involving platforms of their choice that range from Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. As an opportunity for anyone interested in the Master of Professional Writing Program (MPW) or just social media marketing in general, the course is graduate-level but is open to undergraduate students with permission from the instructor.
“A lot of recent MPW graduates found the class extremely useful for obtaining experience in content development and networking,” said DeLuca. “But the course is applicable across disciplines from marketing, communications, and the business fields, and anyone interested in writing and social media.”
The course is currently enrolling, and for more information email kdeluca1@umassd.edu.