Would I want my child to study for an 'influencer degree'? Not really — but it reflects reality
Nottingham Trent University's new content-creation degree has sparked debate, but for better or worse it mirrors where parts of today's job market are heading.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.
Nottingham Trent University's new BA (Hons) course in content creation, quickly nicknamed the "influencer degree" by commentators, carries a price tag of almost £10,000 a year and has become an easy target for ridicule. It is, on the surface, an easy story to mock.
But dismissing it outright misses something important: a glance at current media job listings shows how much hiring has already shifted toward content creation, social platforms and personal branding. Traditional journalism and media roles increasingly sit alongside, or are being replaced by, positions built around exactly the skills such a degree claims to teach.
Scepticism is understandable
There are fair questions to ask about whether a formal three-year degree is the right vehicle for skills that many successful creators learn informally, through trial and error on the platforms themselves. Critics argue that the credential risks lagging behind an industry that moves far faster than any curriculum can.
Still, framing this purely as an absurdity ignores how thoroughly the creator economy has embedded itself in the wider media landscape. Whether or not a specific degree is the right answer, the underlying shift it responds to is real, and it is likely to keep shaping how young people think about careers in media.
Sources
- Would I want my child to study for a social media influencer degree? No, but it’s the way of the world — The Guardian — Opinion
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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