‘It’s like the Third Secret of Fatima — influencers never tell you what they make’: meet the students on Ireland’s first ‘TikTok’ degree
First years on this unique degree in Carlow talk about dealing with the jibes and misconceptions about their course, the serious work that goes into content creation and chasing their digital dreams
Students from Ireland’s first influencer college course
It’s early autumn and, all around the country, first-year students are getting to grips with all the newness of college life. And three years after graduating myself, I am making a brief return to third-level education at the Carlow campus of the South East Technological University (SETU) to meet a very special group of first years enrolled on Ireland’s first ‘influencer’ course, who are experiencing all of the usual college firsts armed with one very important tool: their smartphone.
The BA honours degree in content creation and social media was introduced onto the CAO earlier this year and is the first of its kind in Ireland. There are just 15 places, but 71 students put the four-year course down as their first preference. Since September, the first intake of students have been studying what it takes to make it as an influencer.
