Overview

With the proliferation of social media channels, getting a story heard now requires an understanding of how to make media that will have an impact. This unit provides students with a critical, historical overview of how social media products and strategies have been used in industry, government, not-for-profit and community organisations to achieve social and behavioural change. Through a collaborative, real world project, students will develop and implement a media product that advocates for social change.

Requisites

Prerequisites

50 credit points of Level 2 Units

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-August-2026
01-November-2026
Last self-enrolment date
16-August-2026
Census date
01-September-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
22-September-2026
Results released date
08-December-2026

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Engage in critically informed debates about the relationship between social media platforms, cultures and practices and social impact
  • Define, describe and analyse core concepts, theories and issues in regards to social media and social impact, including diverse social, cultural and indigenous perspectives
  • Independently plan and produce research to critically analyse a social change media campaign
  • Collaborate in groups with internal and external partners, to develop and implement a media product that advocates for a change in attitude and/or behaviour for a particular audience.
  • Use data analytics to measure and reflect upon social media techniques and practices used to influence social impact

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online
Lecture (asynchronous)		 1.00  12 weeks  12
On-campus
Class		 2.00  12 weeks  24
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 9.00  12 weeks  108
TOTAL     144

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Activity ReportIndividual 20% 1,2,3 
Development PlanGroup 40% 1,2,3,4,5 
Final Presentation FolioGroup 20% 1,2,3,4,5 
Research EssayIndividual 20% 1,2,3 

Content

  • History of media advocacy and activism
  • Narrative and non-narrative storytelling strategies
  • Data Visualization and advocacy
  • Developing social media strategies to target social change issues in areas such as health, aging, education, the environment and social justice
  • Develop a plan for implementing a social impact project
  • Creating collaborative media products with community and not-for-profit organizations
  • Measuring social impact

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.