Does Ireland’s first ‘influencing’ degree signpost big changes for the working world?

The Bachelor of Arts in Content Creation and Social Media will begin at South East Technological University (SETU) in Carlow next September, with CAO applications opening for those interested in early November.

“We’re the first university to offer a degree specifically in this area,” Dr Elenor O’Leary, a lecturer in media and communications at the university commented, admitting that she thinks there has been demand for such a course for some time.  “Even with the advent of AI, creatives are the life and blood of online environments. We’re really excited about launching and getting our first cohort of students.”

According to her, the industry has doubled in value globally since 2019. “It is kind of worth an estimate of between 14 and 16 billion worldwide and so it is an area that has specific set of skills,” she told RTÉ’s News at One. 

“Lots of people end up working and collaborating with brands. They could be self-employed as an influencer, or they could go in with a company and organisation as a content creator. It draws on existing media, PR and marketing skills but it’s a new area in and of itself.”

As it stands, SETU already has a number of degrees in the digital media field, so this is simply an expansion of that offering. The idea came about after there was phenomenal demand for an online influencer course run by lecturer Irene McCormick, at the former IT Carlow. “There was crazy interest,” she recalls. “Normally with a summer school you might have 30 students, and for this, we had to stop it at 150. It alerted me to the fact something was growing.”

Set to explore everything from public relations to marketing, the course will also include modules in video and audio editing,  podcasting, creative writing, celebrity culture, photography and event management, as well as a work experience placement in third year. 

The Times reports that a number of experienced influencers, including TikTok star Lauren Whelan, will also be invited to work with the students as part of their studies each semester.

“We saw that there was a growing interest in this area both from students and young people, and also from employers, so we went ahead in developing the degree at that point,” O’Leary explains. “Lots of young people are very proficient on social media… but in terms of offering education in this area, we were looking at adding things like business skills and knowledge, developing young people as champions of their own growth so they knew what they had to offer individually as creatives.

“Also that they understood and had knowledge of critical cultural studies, technical skills like video editing, audio editing, being able to podcast and write content.

“Then also the kind of skills they need in terms of their creativity. We have modules in creative writing, we have modules in content writing, creative video and storytelling. It’s three or four sets of skills really that people need to work in this area,” she noted. Professional skills in crisis management and an in-depth run-through of how to use different platforms will help to complete the four-year syllabus for the degree. 

And with increasing pressure for influencers to be 100% transparent online, particularly where advertising is concerned, O’Leary confirms that this will be another focus. “That’s the kind of thing we’ll be teaching on the course, which is that young people are going into this industry understand that existing laws pertain to this area and when they work in that area they have that knowledge and won’t make any missteps.” 

So, does this signpost a shift in what future employees want from their work lives? The data suggests that it does. In fact, a survey of over 1,000 Irish adults carried out by Censuswide last year, found that a third of those surveyed would like to work as an influencer in addition to holding down their regular job – a further 13% said they would like it to be their main source of income.

The potential career path was most popular amongst Gen Z, with more than 75% of that cohort saying that they had ambitions of working as an influencer… and that demand has translated to the job market with many companies now looking to hire influencers and content creators to work with their brands. 

While the concept of influencing as a career is still in its infancy, more and more people are being drawn in by the flexibility the industry would afford them – especially with the global push for four-day workweeks to be introduced. New research has added to a growing body of evidence that suggests a shorter workweek would be better. By and large, influencers are often in a position to be more selective about who they work with and when, affording them more freedom than the typical 9-5. 

And that’s without mentioning the huge profits at stake. Last year, Forbes reported that YouTube star MrBeast earned a whopping $54 million in 2021 – the most of any YouTuber ever. Not everyone will make it to eight-figure paychecks, but it’s much more lucrative a career path than some might have realised. 

So far, the reaction to SETU’s new degree has been… divided. For every supporter, there seems to be five critics. However, with the online world playing an increasingly significant role in our lives, it’s clear that influencers are here to stay. How that impacts the working world, we’ll have to wait and see.

Feature image via @mollymae