Yoin the early 00’s emily hund she dreamed of a career as a journalist at a glossy fashion magazine. But after internships at New York media companies and witnessing declining circulations and layoffs, he turned to study one of the catalysts for these changes: social media and the influencers whose posts on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram they sell ideas, lifestyles and products to their followers. The influencer industry ranges from global stars like the Kardashians to micro-influencers posting about niche interests. What they have in common is that they work with brands to promote or sell to an audience. Hund is now a Research Affiliate at the Center for Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania and her first book on influencers is published in the UK this month.
How did social networks take root in people’s lives?
There was a lot of optimism about social media in the 2000s when technology made it easier to share opinions. During the economic crisis of 2008, when people were out of work or looking for ways to make money, it really took off. Bloggers found loyal audiences, so advertisers took an interest. All this happened in the face of a crisis in the traditional media and they were looking for new ways to promote products.
The first influencers like Tavi Gevinson and Michelle Phan they appeared as bloggers in the fashion and beauty sectors. How did unqualified people with no industry experience become gurus on social media?
As a society, we revere entrepreneurs and love the idea of people “being themselves” in academia and business, as well as in celebrity culture. So there was fertile ground for social media influencers. They were seen as more authentic than traditional experts: just like you, they are trying to figure out makeup or fashion. That gave them credibility.
But “authentic” is such a nebulous quality. How did it become a measure of success for an influencer?
There was a huge influx of influencers after the first wave gained recognition and money. That led to a flood of content, and all the advertising and marketing people scrambled to try to figure out what to do with it. It was no longer enough to be influential in the quantitative sense: the number of followers you have, your engagement rate. On top of that, you had to prove that you were “more real” than the next person; not just true to yourself, but a true match to a brand.
That sounds awful. I thought being an influencer was fun?
I wouldn’t call it a good job. Those who land million-dollar deals are a microscopic slice of a huge industry. There are many concerning racial and gender dynamics, and there is also inequality between influencers and social media platforms. At first, bloggers only posted on their personal blog, but then Meta and TikTok took over the world. Those companies control your content and visibility and there is no transparency about their algorithms.
The interviewees I spoke to have a constant fear of making mistakes with brands or their followers. If the compromise fails, it’s really hard. If you get a bad response to a photo of you in a bathing suit or something, you wonder if people think you’re ugly; and if it was sponsored content, you don’t know if the brand will work with you again. Sometimes you just have to face the fact that people don’t like you anymore.
The influencer industry has a predominantly female workforce. Do you think sexism is involved in poor working conditions?
Absolutely. one of my first papers We analyzed the aesthetics of influencers and found that those ranked high for marketing and advertising fell into the stereotypes of Western ideals of beauty: thin, feminine, white, straight.
The fact that women ran the industry also meant that it was not taken seriously, or was looked down upon as selfish or vain women. She took on events like the 2017 Fyre festival [a disastrous music event hyped on social media] to make the general public realize that these people had genuine power.
How has the influencer industry changed as you Has developed?
Now that the cultural and political industries are involved, it is more complex. For a long time, influencers were vehicles for commercial messages, but now it is blatantly about spreading ideas and products. There was an increase in the time people spent on social media during lockdown and many new types of influencers appeared: scientific and medical influencers, but also people who positioned themselves as experts or skeptics.
That couldn’t have happened without Instagram and TikTok Stories – you can’t use a beautifully curated Instagram post to sell a conspiracy theory, but short videos are ideal.
Is it common for influencers to knowingly mislead their audience?as in the cases such as the “pump and pull” securityies fraud (in which social media influencers in the US were accused of feeding followers misinformation in a $100 million stock scheme)?
The influencers I interviewed expressed their desire to be themselves online to the best of their ability. But one put it in a particularly memorable way: being “authentic but not exact.” portray yourself in a way that feel Pretty real, and it’s basically true, but maybe you don’t actually use this product, or do this eating or exercise routine every day, or maybe there are behind-the-scenes relationships that aren’t fully disclosed.
It’s hard to say how common coordinated schemes like pump and dump are. If someone is committing a securities fraud level crime, that’s not necessarily something you see every day, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t people trying.
What do you think of Kim Kardashian promoting cryptocurrencies? Isn’t that a strange combination?
Each level of influencer can offer something to an advertiser. Working with Kim Kardashian, who has hundreds of millions of followers along with celebrity prestige, can quickly get your brand exposure and drive sales. What I don’t understand, frankly, is the appeal of these deals to her and other people at her level who don’t necessarily need the money. Health and financial products, in particular, carry great risk to her personal brand and have landed her in hot water with the US Federal Trade Commission.
What did you think of the viral? Romy Mars TikTok (in which the The 16-year-old daughter of filmmaker Sofia Coppola makes vodka pasta sauce and reveals she was grounded after trying to charter a helicopter using her father’s credit card to go out to dinner with a friend.)? Is it a hoax?
It’s a great example of how we can never know for sure what the truth is behind the apparent authenticity of influencers. He was taking advantage of TikTok’s technology and communication norms to make a piece of baby nepo. [nepotism baby, the successful children of celebrities] art, or was it a teenager sharing what was going on in her life. We can’t know. And that is the point.
Do you follow the advice of any influencer?
I am totally guilty of buying things suggested by influencers. In a world where you are overwhelmed with information, they can give you a good recommendation. I bought a rug for my bedroom that I really like thanks to an influencer, and I still enjoy it five years later.
You just have to keep in mind that there are a lot of levers at work behind the content we find. There is much more than just being ourselves.
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The influencer industry: the search for authenticity on social media by Emily Hund is published by Princeton (£25). to support the guardian and watcher order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Shipping charges may apply
