Social media course defended on Twitter
31 March 09

Academics criticised for offering a masters degree covering Twitter and other social networking websites are defending themselves against the media onslaught - where else, but on Twitter.
Students on the £4,000 one-year Social Media degree, offered by Birmingham City University, will explore how we communicate on the websites and how they can be used for marketing.

Other modules on the course will teach students how to start a blog and podcasting techniques. The course is being advertised through a video on the university's website.

The course convenor, Jon Hickman, who is posting regularly on his Twitter feed, responding to media coverage of the course, saying it was not for "freaks" or "IT geeks".

But Jamie Waterman, 20, a Birmingham-based student, told the Telegraph it was "a complete waste of university resources".

Paul Bradshaw, another lecturer involved in setting up the MA, replied on Twitter that the student's comment was "uninformed".