Now There's an 'Influencer' Degree

Ask a teen what they want to be when they grow up, and there's a fair chance being an influencer is on their list. Digital media and the people who star in it have been cultural mainstays for teens' entire lives, so creating social media, video, or podcast content seems a natural, albeit nontraditional, career path. Now they can earn a college degree in that very field. Arizona State University recently launched a new bachelor's degree in content creation, reports the AP, offered through its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The curriculum overlaps with that of ASU's mass communication and media studies degree, with the major departure being a slate of specialized electives on podcasting, studio production and on-camera presence.

ASU's announcement was met with swift criticism from many sides—from people who feel content creation is not a legitimate profession to those who question the value of a college degree in launching a social media career. But the ASU program is not the first of its kind. Many higher education institutions have started offering classes focused on the burgeoning content creation industry over the past few years, and several have certificate or minor programs. Syracuse University, Quinnipiac University, and Colorado State University offer minors, and St. Bonaventure University announced a content creation major last winter.

To Brooke Erin Duffy, a communication professor at Cornell University, these college programs represent an inflection point. Over the past year, Duffy said, institutions in education and beyond have been acknowledging content creation as a viable career path—even if the term "influencer" itself hits a nerve. The image of a prototypical influencer, Duffy said, is usually a "young girl who is snapping selfies and just reaping in tremendous rewards for seemingly not doing anything." But that's not the reality for many content creators, who are working on media production, audience retention strategies, brand partnerships, and business relationships associated with their online presence. "It is a time-consuming, labor-intensive job that often doesn't pay well—at least in the beginning," Duffy said. "But a lot of that gets concealed behind … this assumption that it's a dream job."

Content creator and actor Sammy Cristerna graduated from Arizona State University this spring with a degree in sociology and political science, but said he "absolutely" would have taken classes in the content creation program and considered the major if it had been available. The courses, Cristerna said, would have been useful in learning how to negotiate brand deals, maximize monetization opportunities, and cultivate and keep an audience. Some of those skills can be self-taught through experience, he added. Still, "it's nice to have that formal education." The one thing Cristerna said he isn't sure will translate in the classroom is personality. To connect on camera, a person needs to have "good energy," he said. "That's hard to teach."