Jobs created as a result of social media

Technology is here with us and is not going anywhere. And part of it is the digital era that arrived with the internet and later social media.
This is one big revolution that has disrupted almost every industry and profession – but the disruptions have come with opportunities
Not so long ago, it would be laughable if one told you “my job is social media specialist”, but it is now one of the most popular jobs and comes with a fat cheque.
The digital era has eased communication through social media platforms and broken boundaries like never before.
Therefore, it is no longer convincing for a company to fail to provide a response where needs be, which in a way has created an opportunity for social media specialists, who by default, on a minimum keep 12-hour contact with different audiences.
Such people are required to have important company information off their finger tips as their audiences, mostly composed of an army of young people, have no time to wait for “let me consult the boss”.
Social media and the internet age have indeed had a social revolution not only in communication but in the education sector where so many things right from course composition are fast changing to respond to current needs.
Computer lessons have become a perquisite in every school and computer technology-related courses have become more popular than never.
Available research indicates that growth in the use of social media has tremendously improved over the years eased by increasing internet penetration, which in Uganda stands at about 38 per cent according to data from Uganda Communications Commission.
The growth has been boosted by the rapid growth in mobile phone penetration that currently standards at more than 50 per cent.
At least more than 22 million Ugandans own mobile phones with 33 per cent of these accessing the internet through mobile devices.
Ritah Nuwamanya has always been a social media freak browsing different social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, among others.
Her understanding of the computer or related courses is just basic but she recently found a social media-related job at Youth Today because of her good communications skills.
“I had always done it for pleasure, spicing up my posts to get followers, but it paid off in ways I had never imagined,” she says.
The organisation that Nuwamanya works for was only looking for that person who would engage and interact with its young audience, majority of whom use social media as the priority source of information.
Brandon Dickens Murungi, a digital trainer has had it all, having interacted with a number of young people whose enthusiasm is driven with new desires.
“I have been training young people for some time now and from the way I see it, they keep asking for more as the digital era keeps presenting new innovations,” he says.
But beyond the above, the digital era has built an army of software and applications developers, creating solutions for various problems.
According to Aida Mbawadde, a post graduate student of Computer Science at Uganda Martyrs University, “we cannot talk about the internet without talking about software and apps”.
“So, software engineering is one opportunity that has come with the current trends. Many companies depend on software and need people to manage or build such software,” he says.
At Makerere University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Software Engineering has been drafted in the system and it is one of the highly enrolled courses.

INTERNET RELATED JOBS

Online editors
Online media is so far one of the most deep rooted profession that has been created by the internet and social media.
According to Abaasi Mpindi, the chief executive officer of Media Challenge, the market currently needs online communicators with a good command of English and persuasion due to the increasing onslaught that many organisations have tested on social media.

Web developer
With almost every organisation and individuals needing to own a website, that is one opportunity you can grab. Ask yourself whether there is any organisation, company or product that doesn’t need a website in this information era.

Data security specialist
Everyone needs the affirmation that their information on the internet is safe.
So that is an open opportunity that having the skills to maneuver the internet to secure intra -coms, websites, blogs among others from online hackers, has created an opportunity.