In an ever-changing technological and social world, many businesses consider social media teams to be essential in helping coordinate, promote and connect with consumers.
Ohio University’s social media certificate to allows students to get a glimpse of the logistics of social media and prepares them to pursue careers in fields that use it.
Interim Social Media Certificate Coordinator, Tori Swarm, said students choosing to get acclimated with the certificate are able to get first-hand experience professionally operating social media.
Some students’ only experience with social media is what they choose to do leisurely in their free time and that doesn’t accurately represent how students are able to navigate the business side of it, Swarm said.
“That's why some of the classes are really helpful to understand what is influencing the good, the bad, the ugly,” Swarm said. “Trying to make sure that you bridge that from the academic standpoint of things into the ‘this is what it really is out there online.’”
One of the electives offered for the social media certificate is JOUR 4530, Strategic Social Media. Hakan Karaaytu, a Ph.D. candidate, is one of the instructors for this course.
“For every job, there is an opportunity for social media,” Karaaytu said. “People just need to wake up. They should be open to new things. They should be open-minded.”
Sam Spinale, a senior studying journalism, is pursuing a social media certificate. The availability of careers in social media encouraged Spinale to go after the certificate.
“I think social media is one of the number one growing industries right now,” Spinale said. “I think it's so beneficial to understand it from a business standpoint … Getting that experience or understanding how having social media leverages you when you're looking for jobs. I think it's really important because social media is not going to go away.”
Jacob Hiler, a Fox Associate Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Consumer Research & Analytics at OU, said social media goes hand-in-hand with marketing and advertising because it helps advance the positive image of products and services.
“I think marketing is at its best when it's introducing people to products and services that will make their lives better,” Hiler said.
Smaller businesses are especially able to capitalize and grow tremendously from having a social media platform but it can be difficult for larger companies, Hilar said.
“I think these brands can’t understand the medium and … it falls flat on its face because it doesn't come from an authentic place,” Hilar said. “It comes from a place of trying to chase a trend, and I think whenever you're trying to chase a trend, you are inherently going to hurt your brand.”
Danielle McCarthy, an adjunct professor of journalism, also teaches the JOUR 4530 course. McCarthy said that brands should be deliberate when using social media and should be able to communicate to consumers in a way that is still true to the brand.
“Just because these platforms are out there, it doesn't mean that we need to be capitalizing on every single thing,” McCarthy said. “We need to be really smart and strategic about ‘Who is our brand?’ ‘What is our purpose?’ and ‘What are we trying to communicate?’”
However, McCarthy said overall it is still in a company's best interest to build a social media platform and expand its brand.
“I do think if brands and companies don’t get on social (media and) don’t really get with it, they will fall to the wayside,” McCarthy said. “I think there’s certainly a lot of opportunities for companies to get on board. They just have to make that choice.”
Social media is a tool all majors can learn and capitalize from, Karaatyu said. He encouraged all students who have an interest in it to consider pursuing a career and learning more about social media.
Swarm said she also wants the university to continue to grow and adjust its social media program. With social media being extremely prominent today, it is only necessary to continue to progress and prioritize the certificate, Swarm said.
“We definitely need to keep growing our programming and opportunities so that we're keeping up to date. The whole point of having a university with world-class programs is to be competitive,” Swarm said. “We need to make sure we're preparing our students for how to use (social media) when they leave here.”
