Social Media, An Academic Major?

I attended my second Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) marketing advisory board meeting yesterday (11/16). What interested me most was the sharp jump I witnessed in conversation time devoted to social media. Last year we spent about 25% of the meeting discussing social media, while this year the topic took up a whopping 75% of the conversation. Virtually all of the advisors from the private sector stressed the importance of social media to students focusing on marketing, advertising or public relations. FIT already has a number of courses on social media, but more are needed. In fact, it probably should be a major. It was nice to see the academics at the meeting “getting it.” Their issue is how to move an academic institution from the standard glacial pace to a pace that can keep up with all the changes. Not an easy issue to solve, but one that all colleges and universities must address. Right now, the private sector is way ahead.