Major overview
This course explores the social, cultural and political impacts of the internet, and digital and social media platforms.
You will learn the fundamentals of online communications: how people network, create, collaborate and share information through digital and social media platforms, for a range of purposes.
You’ll graduate ready for careers in digital and social media strategy.
This course can also be studied in the Web Media specialisation of the Bachelor of Communications.
How to study this major
A major is a set of eight or more units you complete as part of a degree, including at least two in your final year. To study this major, you’ll need to apply for one of the degrees listed below.
Career outcomes
Careers
- Online content creator
- Web designer / developer
- Social media coordinator
- Web communications manager
- Digital producer / strategist
- Data business analyst
- Policymaker
Industries
- Media and communications
- Advertising and marketing
- Research and policy
- Non-profit and community sector
Why study at Curtin?
Get the Curtin edge
In your final year, you can develop a website and social media presence as part of a small team project, which you can add to your portfolio.
Cutting-edge
Curtin was one of the first Australian universities to offer an internet studies. We’ve stayed at the forefront by delving into AI and examining our understanding of the internet’s impact on societal change.
Broad career options
This course has an open structure, giving you choices between multiple elective units, so you can acquire the skills and knowledge you want.
Hear from our students
"While I was finishing the last assignments for my degree, I started working for Perenti Group, a mining services company with more than 8000 employees as a Communications Advisor. I used my Digital and Social Media studies to roll out Workplace by Meta (Facebook for grownups, as the staff call it) to all Australian frontline employees who don’t have access to emails or intranet. This is about 70% of our workforce based on mine sites who now have their own digital communities to share everything from rosters to pictures of their pets. "
MJ Rowan
Major structure
What you’ll learn
Throughout the course, you’ll build practical and advanced skills in creating, maintaining and managing online communications across web media, publishing and presence; and develop expertise in online collaboration and community management.
You’ll learn how to mobilise digital and social media to promote products, causes and interests.
You’ll also explore how digital and social media are reshaping political systems, cultures, societies and economies, and how to use digital and social media to make the world a better place.
Our units cover web-based media and content creation; writing for web-based platforms; everyday life in digital cultures; digital identity and self-branding; entertainment and games; digital economies; online activism and social movements; power and politics in the digital era; and theories of the role of technology in social change.
We design activities and assessments using various platforms and tools, including social media such as X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. You will create content for different online platforms and learn how to use them in effective ways.
Detailed course structure and unit information
For detailed information and course structure, visit our Handbook.
Study combinations
Digital and Social Media is offered as part of the Bachelor of Arts. You can create a degree that suits your career goals by enhancing your studies with a second major.
You can also study Digital and Social Media as part of a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Commerce, or Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts double degree.
This course can also studied within the Web Media specialisation of the Bachelor of Communications.
How to apply
This specialisation is part of a degree. To apply, choose the degree you want to study and review its entry requirements. Then, prepare any required documents and submit your application before the deadline for your chosen intake.
After you receive and accept your offer, you can enrol in this specialisation either at the start of your degree or later in your studies, depending on your course structure.
Choose your degree
To study this major, you'll need to apply one of the degrees listed below.Explore more
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