By Corinne Dolan
With class registration among us, the University of Delaware’s communication department offers a variety of classes for undergraduate students to take. It can feel overwhelming looking at the course catalog and determining which classes would be most beneficial to you. With so many opportunities to learn about the public relations field in our major, I often find it hard to narrow down which courses would help me succeed and give me real, hands-on experience.
Social Media Management (COMM333) boasts a long wait list each semester- and rightfully so. Last semester when I registered for classes, I impulsively joined the class with one seat left simply because I thought the course description seemed interesting. I was not aware of how much I would learn about the industry and how much goes into social media management before I walked through the doors of Sharp Lab on the first day of class.
Professor Bartoo, who herself has years of experience in advertising and social media, offers a strategic and hands-on learning approach to social media management and an interactive learning style. In this class, you analyze real social media posts from some of the best brands in the social media marketing world – from Dunkin’ to Nike to Burberry to Red Bull. It’s much easier said than done to be an influential brand. Why are these Instagram handles so successful? What makes Red Bull’s 14.9 million Instagram followers so engaged in the brand – meanwhile they rarely post the Red Bull product itself? These and many other questions are discussed in COMM333.
Professor Bartoo often sends the class out onto campus to create our own social media content. We apply what we learn in class about what makes a post engaging, interesting, and memorable for our intended audience. Everything that goes into a post has a purpose, which you never truly realize until taking this course. Now, I find myself noticing social media strategies in almost every brand’s account that I come across. Social media management is all about capturing the attention of our audience in a relevant and repeatable way, and this class is a deep dive into everything it takes to be successful in this.
If you are interested in gaining real skills and knowledge that can help you during communication job interviews, internships, and your professional development, I highly recommend enrolling in COMM333, Social Media Management. This class has earned a spot on my resume, as I feel it has taught me so much about the industry and the science behind social media. I look forward to applying the skills I have learned in this class to my future professional endeavors.
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