Social Media Management

Social media management is a relatively new but rapidly professionalising field, concerned with how organisations plan, create, and manage their presence across social media platforms to build audiences, communicate with stakeholders, and achieve strategic communication goals. It draws on marketing, communications, journalism, data analytics, and content creation, and its practitioners need to understand both the technical operation of different platforms and the psychological and social dynamics that determine what content resonates with audiences.

At the University of Sunderland, this three-year full-time degree develops your practical skills through engagement with award-winning digital publications and the mediaHUB, giving you real experience of professional digital content production alongside your academic studies. A year abroad is incorporated into the programme, broadening your perspective on how social media operates across different cultural and regulatory contexts. Networking events and lecturers with strong industry contacts mean that you graduate with a professional portfolio and the relationships that help launch a career in the sector.

The programme's accreditation gives it professional recognition and strengthens the credibility of your qualification.

You will study content strategy, community management, data analytics, digital storytelling, platform dynamics, brand communication, and the ethical and legal frameworks that govern social media practice. The ability to create compelling content across different formats and to measure and evaluate its impact are central skills the programme develops.

Graduates go on to work as social media managers, digital content creators, community managers, digital marketing executives, communications specialists, and brand strategists across industries from retail and entertainment to healthcare and public services. Many develop freelance practices alongside employed roles. Postgraduate study in marketing, communications, or digital media is an option for those wishing to specialise further.