| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 year full time 2 years part time |
| Entry year | September 2024 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Discipline | Media and Communications |
| Contact |
| Typical offer | 2:2 Honours degree |
|---|---|
Overview
- Gain advanced knowledge of social media in business contexts
- Understand brand strategy and properties of different platforms
- Develop technical proficiency in content creation, engagement metrics, SEO, and AI
- Our vibrant postgraduate community benefits from research-inspired teaching from experts in social media and related subdisciplines, including gamification and critical video game theory, celebrity cultures, promotional cultures, algorithm bias, and user data analysis
- Gain valuable transferable skills in management of social media, user research and design, campaigning, branding, budgeting, reputation management, and digital marketing strategies
Top 15 in the UK for Communication and Media Studies
14th in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
Home to the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
The biggest film-related archive in the UK outside the British Film Institute
Develop transferable skills and specialist knowledge through interdisciplinary teaching
Varied graduate careers
Entry requirements
We will consider applicants with a 2:2 Honours degree with 53% or above, or international equivalent, in a relevant subject that includes some coverage of media studies or other theory-focused media-related course, cultural studies, sociology (or a social science course), history, politics, literature, philosophy.
We will also consider applicants with a degree in a non-related subject providing you have at least one year's experience within the fields of media and/or the cultural industries. Additional information may also be requested to consider these applications.
Entry requirements for international students
English language requirements
International students need to show they have the required level of English language to study this course. The required test scores for this course fall under Profile B2. Please visit our English language requirements page to view the required test scores and equivalencies from your country.
Course content
This MA provides specialist knowledge of Social Media (SM) in business contexts, encompassing areas such as brand and reputation management, crisis communication, and user behaviour. You will learn about brand strategy and how this plays out through SM channels: how businesses use SM to create brand affinity, esteem, and loyalty, and how they target audiences depending on the maturity of brand and platform.
We teach technical proficiency - how to measure and create engagement, how to budget to create impact through engine optimisation, and understanding of Al. You will also acquire in-depth knowledge of the properties of different SM platforms: how they are used, for which purposes, by whom, and in which countries/regions, while also considering ethical implications and social consequences.
Graduates can effectively build campaigns, maximise visibility, strategically engage with various SM platforms, and create flexible, adaptable content that can be realigned to the demands of the various platforms.
The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.
Fees
2024/25 entry
UK fees per year:
£12,000 full-time; £6,000 part-time
International fees per year:
£24,300 full-time; £12,150 part-time
Scholarships
We invest heavily in scholarships for talented prospective Masters students. This includes over £5 million in scholarships for international students, such as our Global Excellence Scholarships*.
For more information on scholarships, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
*Selected programmes only. Please see the Terms and Conditions for each scheme for further details.
Teaching and research
Our MA offers practical as well as theoretical learning opportunities, such as going behind the scenes in the Digital Humanities Lab and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum and developing practical skills in SM management and strategy.
Research-led teaching ensures module content includes the latest trends in SM and Digital Marketing. Our research includes: contemporary media and culture, gamification and critical video game theory, celebrity cultures, promotional cultures, algorithm bias, and user data analysis.
You will also benefit from a range of visiting expert speakers, as well as have opportunities to participate in content creation and industry-facing events.
Facilities
We are exceptionally lucky to have some fantastic facilities and resources on the Streatham Campus.
Digital Humanities Lab
Digital Humanities is increasingly important in all areas of humanities research, including history, archaeology, literatures and languages. This research space enables the examination, preservation and analysis of historical, literary and visual material. Facilities in the lab include:
- a flagship seminar room equipped with a 4.2-metre video wall, encouraging interactive engagement in a shared display space
- two state-of-the-art photography labs, including provision for the 2D digitisation of heritage material and primary sources
- an audio-visual lab with a recording studio and sound editing suite
- a MakerSpace equipped with 3D scanning and printing equipment
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum
The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum holds a wide-ranging collection of more than 70,000 film related artefacts and is the largest research archive in any British University.
The collection is available for all students to use as a research and study resource, giving students a highly distinctive and valuable experience of studying and researching film using primary materials, documents and artefacts. State-of-the-art equipment in our Digital Humanities Lab enables the examination and analysis of these materials.
Meet the Programme Director
Dr Aditya Deshbandhu is a Lecturer of Communications, Digital Media Sociology. His research engages with developments in the fields of video game studies, new media platforms, and the digital divide. He also tries to understand how people engage with digital artefacts, and how these interactions shape their everyday lives. As someone who actively examines digital acts of leisure, his research in the last decade has examined social media and OTT platforms alongside video games and digital cultures.
He joined the Communications programme at Exeter from the Indian Institute of Management - Indore, India where he served as an Assistant Professor in the Communication Area. He holds Doctoral and Masters' degrees in Communication from the University of Hyderabad, India. He is the author of Gaming Culture(s) in India: Digital Play in Everyday Life and the forthcoming The 21st Century in a Hundred Games. He also serves as an editor on Routledge's book series: Games and Contemporary Culture.
Read more from Dr Aditya Deshbandhu
Dr Aditya Deshbandhu
Programme Director
Careers
This MA provides you with valuable transferable skills in social media management, user research and design, campaigning, branding, budgeting, reputation management, and digital marketing strategies. There is also emphasis on the development of a professional practice based on critical understanding and reflection, with an interdisciplinary and practice-based approach to learning.
These skills can be utilised in a wide range of future careers across, public, private, commercial and third sectors, as well as continuing study to PhD level.
Guest speakers will also give you a starting point to develop your own broad network of professional contacts.
Key areas in which our graduates could work include:
- Advertising and market research/analytics
- Media or Social media management/strategy/consultancy/content creation/campaigning
- Management consultancy activities
- Media campaigns
- Media policy/education
- Computer programming and consultancy
- Video, television and music production and publishing
- Education
- Charities/NGOs
