You can now get a degree in influencing (You read that right)
Have you ever wanted to become an influencer? Now you can go to university to learn how.
Students who enroll in South East Technological University (located in Carlow, Ireland) will now have a new major to choose from alongside traditional options like business or hospitality management.
They can now get a bachelor of arts degree in influencing, The Washington Post reported.
Formally known as a bachelor of arts in content creation and social media, some of the degree’s career prospects include content creation, journalism, social media and influencing. Students can expect to take public relations courses, learn the history of photography, be taught about how to make creative videos and pick up crisis management skills to boot.
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This degree is coming during a time when many members of Gen Z are ready to ditch their 9-to-5 jobs to become influencers instead. A Morning Consult poll found that more than half of Gen Zers would become an influencer if they felt like they could be.
Sometimes influencers have been called “the new celebrity” as they have gone viral on social media and built millions of followers. TikTok has helped the influencer industry boom into what it is today.
“No-frills, direct-to-cam and low-editing content does well on TikTok, so it’s broadened the amount of people who feel influencing is accessible to them,” Ellyn Briggs, brands analyst at Morning Consult, told CNBC.
And influencing can also be a full-time job. Through sponsorships, partnerships, affiliate links and more, influencers can perform a service for a company, like marketing, while also paying their own bills, per NPR.
“Experts tell us that the global influencer market is currently worth around $21 billion. We know that influencing; social media marketing; digital content writing and digital strategising are important business activities and socially vital in connecting people and ideas,” the information page for the degree on the university’s website said.
The influencer market has boomed over the course of the last few years. In 2016, it was estimated to be worth around $1.7 billion and has steadily increased since then. In 2022, the industry reached around $16.4 billion and is expected to reach $21.1 billion by the end of 2023, according to Statista.
Influencers like Addison Rae, Charli D’Amelio, Dasia Janae, Bria Jones and others have captivated audiences and earned cash with their views, brand partnerships and affiliates. That’s just a couple of the ways influencers can earn their incomes.
Starting in 2024, students who want to get in on this burgeoning market can sign up to earn a degree in this three-year program. The degree came to fruition after a successful summer program called “The Digital Hustle.”
“For at least two years, the summer program invited TikTok stars and media theorists to teach young students have to build a personal brand,” the Post reported.
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It was after this program, the degree’s co-creator and senior lecturer Irene McCormick told the Post, that the university was able to create the bachelor’s program. “We knew there was a space and need for this, we just needed to develop the course into a bachelor’s degree and get it ratified,” she said.
A degree in influencing has been on the brain of some tech professionals for a while now.
Co-founder and CEO of Viral Nation Joe Gagliese predicted there would be a bachelor’s degree in social influence eventually. “For decades, the BA has served as a prerequisite for many types of well-paying, sought-after jobs. But in the not-too-distant future, a similarly widespread prerequisite will emerge: social influencing,” he wrote for Forbes.
While an influencing degree hasn’t come to the states yet, his prediction came true for Gen Z in Ireland.
