We all know the extreme impact social media is having on our personal and work lives, and certainly society as a whole. Numerous communication students are following a path to a career of working in the field of social media, and yet there are many important factors that need to be examined as it relates to effectively teaching and preparing students for these roles.

Research is showing that students are not as prepared to meet the social media functional needs of organizations and businesses as assumed. There is a clear gap between the student's personal use of social and their proficiency in the practice of social media communication. University educators need to create pedagogical strategies to gain student competence in this area.

This short course will examine available research and discuss practical strategies for communication faculty and programs to consider in order to help prepare students for their professional future in social media.