The seemingly unstoppable rise in the popularity of social networking websites like Facebook has prompted one university to launch a new masters qualification.

For £4,400, Birmingham City University will spend a year teaching students the art of setting up a blog or podcast and examining websites like MySpace, Bebo, Facebook and Twitter.

What do people on your patch think?

Would some academics scoff and brandish it merely a revenue generating scheme?

Or is this the future, meaning colleges and universities that don’t wholeheartedly embrace the 21st century could be left behind?