Building Communities Through Social Media

Course Code: SCCI 4500

Academic Year: 2025-2026

Building communities through social media is a specialized skill set public relations professionals will need to communicate effectively with stakeholders online. This course builds on the foundation of the first year Social Media course while exploring where online brands fit into online community development. In a collaborative environment with guest lecturers, case studies and hands-on experience, students will learn to create strategic plans for building online communities from the ground up and communicating with online communities from the outside. Students will learn how to analyze conversations and cultures while having exposure to a wide-variety of communities and gain insights into community culture and behaviours. As a class, students will be expected to create a closed community on Facebook or Google+ and use it to post articles and ideas related to course concepts. A final class group project will assigned at the mid-point of the course.