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PRL1005 Social Media Engagement

Semester 2, 2020 On-campus Springfield
Short Description: Social Media Engage
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 100700 - Communication & Media Studies
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students are required to have access to a personal computer, e-mail capabilities and Internet access to UConnect. Current details of computer requirements can be found at .

Rationale

Social media has grown beyond its origins to become a global phenomenon capable of significantly influencing governments, economies and cultures. Public Relations practitioners increasingly are required to understand and use this media in support of campaigns, news media and community engagement.

Synopsis

This course examines social media from the practitioners' perspective and the growing influence all platforms within this medium has in corporate communications.

The course teaches an introductory overview of social theory and contemporary social media platforms from an individual and organisational perspective with focus on best practice engagement techniques essential to the modern communications professional.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

  1. evaluate federal government legislative changes in relation to online activities and the effects they have on corporate communication;
  2. demonstrate knowledge of the core elements of contemporary social media platforms from an operational perspective;
  3. demonstrate and ability to use contemporary social media platforms;
  4. differentiate between types of contemporary social media platforms and identify best practice applications for a given scenario;
  5. analyse and evaluate the impact social media has within a social theory approach;
  6. assess the importance of, and be able to develop a social media campaign that both maximizes engagement opportunities while minimizing risk;
  7. demonstrate written communication skills appropriate to the discipline by preparing and submitting assessment material in support of the coursework.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. Are search engines safe? (How do changes to privacy laws affect individuals in the online trading place?) 5.00
2. What is social media? 10.00
3. What is social theory? 10.00
4. How do social media platforms combine with social theory? 15.00
5. Writing for social media platforms 15.00
6. Social media – the organisational approach 15.00
7. The rise of bloggers, Wikipedia and the demise of traditional news media 15.00
8. The economy of social media 15.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=PRL1005)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

Kim, Carolyn Mae 2016, Social Media campaigns: strategies for public relations and marketing, New York NY Routledge.
(ISBN: [978-1-138-94860-0].)

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Nil. To be advised via ¾«¶«´«Ã½appDesk.

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 39.00
Independent ¾«¶«´«Ã½app 126.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
CMA 15 15 07 Aug 2020
SEGMENTATION ANALYSIS 100 30 21 Aug 2020
ESSAY 100 15 10 Sep 2020
CAMPAIGN 100 40 15 Oct 2020

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    Students must attend and complete the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety training program for this course where required.

    External and Online:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students’ responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

    On-campus
    It is the students’ responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    There is no examination for this course.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.

  8. ¾«¶«´«Ã½app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene ¾«¶«´«Ã½app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Other requirements

  1. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in this course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem-solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect the same grades as those students who do possess them.

Date printed 6 November 2020