Social Media Week turns online engagement into business connections

BELLA HUGHES Design Editor

Social media goes beyond a TikTok for you page (FYP) or an Instagram timeline. Social media is a business platform that connects companies to clients and viewers to virality.

UT Social Media Week is an opportunity for students who are curious about starting a career in social media or building a business presence online. Social media strategy student Tamari Davis discovered business opportunities within social media and the analytics that go along with the program.

“I did not know about all the numbers and logistics that go into calculating views and engagements until I took ADVT 461, Social Media. Now that I know about Social Media Week I will be participating,” Davis said.

In 2012, during the rise of the social media age, Courtney Childers, a professor of advertising and public relations and current interim director of the school of journalism and electronic media, saw potential for business in social media. Since its inaugural year, the event has informed a greater population on how to build a career online.

“Career paths in social have a true legitimacy. It took a few years for people to understand and embrace the true impact of social. Social isn’t all fun and games. Brands use social for strategic purposes, and many social campaigns are tied to significant return on investment,” Childers said.

Social Media Week began Monday and will conclude on Thursday, Feb. 23. Clubs and faculty will host guest speakers, inluding panelists with expertise in podcasts, sports journalism and video production who will lead discussion on how to be influential and effective in sending media messages.

“Speakers will provide diverse per- spectives and experiences to get students (thinking) about future possibilities,” Childers said.

The Adam Brown Social Media Command Center in the Communications building is an in-house resource UT students and faculty can use to gain insights on audiences and trends. The center now has access to Sprinklr, a database used by Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft and Capital One. Sprinklr uses AI technology to scan media platforms including Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and TikTok. The database allows students and faculty to analyze engagement and conversations around a brand or topic to ensure accurate research.

On Wednesday at 12 p.m., Matthew Pittman, director of the Adam Brown Command Center, will host a seminar on how to operate Sprinklr technology.

“Sprinklr is a world class social media analytics and engagement tool used by the biggest brands in the world that UT now has access to. In the session I’ll give a birds eye view of what Sprinklr can do,” Pittman said.

Sprinklr is not exclusively for CCI students and staff. The entire UT community can benefit from the resource to have a better understanding of the social market.

Hunter Foster, a UT alumnus and director of social media at Knoxville-based advertising agency Designsensory, understands the importance of keeping a brand relevant on a platform that is flooded with content.

On Thursday, in an event hosted by the Public Relations Student Society of America and the Ad Club, Foster will share how he and his team launched a Tiktok page and developed a strong social media presence for their client Regal Cinemas. The event will take place in the Communications building room 321 at 6 p.m. and also provides a Zoom option.

For more information on Social Media week visit @utkcci on Instagram.