Module manager: Ludmilla Lupinacci
Email: L.Lupinacci@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2026/27
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module focuses on analysing and engaging with rapidly professionalising content creation practices, cultures, and economies. Social media are powerful tools for branding, for entertainment, for storytelling, and for community building. In this rapidly evolving ecology, ‘content’ has become the shorthand for the textual, audiovisual, and interactive material circulated through digital platforms. This module traces historical and contemporary theoretical perspectives on content creation within the context of platforms and creative industries. It equips students with the creative, strategic, and critical skills needed to analyse, produce and evaluate compelling and meaningful content across major and emerging social media platforms. Starting from a media and communication perspective, it focuses both on the communicative modes, forms, and templates that attract attention and engagement and on the technical systems and industries that support (and constrain) the circulation, visibility, and consumption of content in contemporary social media. The module also addresses how a sociotechnical landscape dominated by datafication, proprietary algorithms, and increasing automation shapes creative labour and the very definition of creativity. Students will critically explore the principles of effective content creation, from ideation and audience targeting to production and performance analysis. Through a blend of theory and practice, the module encourages experimentation, collaboration, and critical thinking. No prior experience in content creation is required. Please note this is an optional module and runs subject to enrolments. If a low number of students choose this module, then the module may not run and you may be asked to choose another module.
This module aims to offer both a hands-on introduction to content creation for social media and a critical understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and political landscape of the platform industries. Students will work in groups throughout the semester to respond collaboratively to weekly briefs and produce a portfolio of social media content. Students will critically reflect on their own experiences as content producers, engaging with the topics and readings covered in the teaching sessions.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
Evaluate opportunities and risks for creators and organisations in our contemporary platform ecology.
Apply knowledge to follow best practice in content creation for social media.
Develop strategic planning for social content campaigns.
Critically assess the social, cultural, and technological underpinnings of social media and the creator economy.
On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
Collaborate in teams to manage projects and respond to briefs in a timely manner.
Communicate their strategic thinking and creative process in a compelling form.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Lecture | 10 | 1.5 | 15 |
| Practical | 10 | 1.5 | 15 |
| Private study hours | 169.5 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 30.5 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students will have opportunity to receive formative feedback continuously throughout the semester during the workshops. They will also be meeting as small groups with the module leader(s) before the submission of the first summative assessment as a ‘group supervision’ to check their progress and receive informal feedback.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio | Group Portfolio | 70 |
| Report | Report (self-reflection) | 30 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
If a team fails to complete the Portfolio, or if failure in the portfolio results in a fail in the overall mark, the resit will take the form of an individual extended critical analysis of successful team portfolios. Resits for the report consist of revising and resubmitting the task following the original brief.
Check the module area in Minerva for your reading list
Last updated: 30/04/2026
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