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The #InfluencerIndustry

As the influencer industry rises there are various definitions circulating the web as to what an influencer actually is. Freberg et al defines influencers as ‘third party endorsers who shape audience attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media’ (Freberg et al, 2011). Expanding on this definition, Abidin’s book ‘Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online’, reports several examples on where influencers have been successful within the media. This post aims to emphasise and analyse Abidin’s views, made in the final chapter of her book, as well as focus on the problematic issues that may arise along with being successful in the Industry.

Abidin expresses that many individuals are able to buy followers and likes on instagram, helping them to appear more popular. This is emphasised by popular fashion influencer Camille Charriere who explained to vogue that ‘your number of followers is more important than anything else. It becomes your worth’. This raises the problematic question of whether or not influencers have earns their following due to being influential in their field or whether they have bought ‘fake followers’. In an attempt to reduce these fake accounts Instagram responded by ‘initiating the first of several attempts to delete fake accounts and inactive accounts from their database systematically’ (Abidin, 2018); this was known by users and press as the ‘Instagram Purge’ and resulted in many influencers losing a significant amount of followers overnight. This along with the hashtag algorithms created to ‘generate more traffic’ and ‘expand audience reach’ (ibid), displays how strategies and tactics can be used by influencers in order to enhance their self-brand. However, these strategies are seen as deceptive and often decrease the trust that followers have towards an influencer. 

With the influencer industry increasingly becoming a global market, there are many social issues regarding the pressure and amount of impact influencers have on their audience. Abidin discusses the global implications of influencers by analysing and summarising ‘news reports on influencers in 2017’ (Abidin, 2018). One example showing influencers in a negative light is regarding the social issue of the impact some posts may have on young children. Abidin uses Singaporean students to illustrate this as they ‘uploaded room selfies to the likes of Instagram fashion influencers’ which then became sexualised in a Tumblr Blog; this displays the pressure put on an influencer as they have to be aware that their audience may be of an impressionable age meaning they have the ability to mould them and their perceptions of what is acceptable. 

When concluding the paragraph, Abidin draws the focus on the shift influencers are taking away from the ‘attention economy’ and towards the ‘affection economy’ (Abidin, 2018). In terms of advertisement opportunities, the chapter explains how ‘the personal brand of the influencer takes precedence over the corporate brands of the product’ (ibid). This idea displays how influencers have now become more malleable in order to be able to juggle several brands at a time in order to maintain their ‘brand narrative coherent [and] celebrity persona’ (ibid). Contrasting traditional celebrity endorsements, influencers don’t have the capital to carry out one time advertisements and rely more on small contract deals by businesses which do not allow competition to be endorsed by the same influencer later on. This displays the shift towards the affection economy as more emphasis is placed on their personal brand. 

In my opinion, influencers undertake immense pressure by society to be almost perfect with an essence of realism. With the global influencer market having increasing competition as well as endorsements being short term, the influencer industry is a difficult market to break with many issues which Abidin has successfully highlighted and explained. 

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References:

Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity : Understanding Fame Online, Emerald Publishing Limited

Freberg, K., Graham, K., McGaughey, K., & Freberg, L. A. (2011). Who are the social media influencers? A study of public perceptions of personality. Public Relations Review, 37(1), 90-92. Chicago

Sarah Harris, March 2017, ‘What is an Influencer?’, Vogue Magazine.

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Joining the Meme Dream

Chapter three of Abidin’s book ‘Internet celebrity: Understanding Fame Online’ looks at the proliferation of internet celebrities along with their relationship to the traditional forms of media. This post aims to further deconstruct the points made by Abidin whilst examining the development stages of memes and how ‘memes become reappropiated or brand-jacked to appeal to audiences’ (Abidin, 2018). As seen on the chart below (Desjardins, 2016), traditional media is becoming less relevant with the growth of contemporary media platforms exemplifying the complex relationship between the two as ‘both industries compete and cooperate for a digital audience’ (Abidin, 2018).

The term ‘internet celebrity’ is used as an umbrella term which holds many categories and subcategories regarding different types of media that are relevant at different periods of time (i.e. videos, pictures, eyewitness accounts, blogs). The popular craze of ‘Memes’ began to resurface the internet in 2005 with the beginning of youtube. Coined by English scholar, Richard Dawkins, the term is defined as ‘an element of culture, like an idea, behaviour or practice, or style, that spreads from one person to another through imitation’ (Cole, 2017); nowadays this is a digital file that is copied and shared and spread through different platforms by different individuals. 

When talking about meme personalities, Abidin splits the topic into three stages of development which she refers to as the ‘life cycle of meme celebrities’; these are ‘faces of memes, meme personae, and meme celebrities’ (Abidin, 2018). During the first stage, Abidin explains that the person involved in the meme becomes so strongly linked to it that the ‘image become[s] stereotypes as a caricature’ (ibid). In other words, all other personality and identity traits as well as qualities are simplified, turning the individual into a ‘mere icon’ used for entertainment; resulting in a meme.

Succeeding through to the second and third stages of the meme life cycle is less common as Abidin (2018) explains this is when individuals that appear to be meme faces ‘extend their fame by intentionally pursuing a public persona modelled after the narrative for which there meme has become popular’. In this scenario the person has embraced their meme and aim to reach another level of success from it; seeking that their is an opportunity to gain profit from the scenario. Abidin displays this with the example of Kyle Craven and the meme ‘Bad Luck Brian’ who turned his ‘awkward yearbook photo [into] an internet sensation [while] laughing his way to the bank’ (Huffington Post Live, 2015). This shows that once someone has become well known in the meme world, there is a huge opportunity to gain success and capital by adopting the characteristic and narrative of which they are now known for. 

The third and final stage, ‘meme celebrities’ is attained when ‘a meme persona achieves extended and sustained public celebrity by growing their fame into a stable commercial business’ (Abidin, 2018).  This vast amount of success is displayed when these individuals are invited to talk on successful talk shows, such as ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’. Abidin refers to this as ‘The Ellen Factory’ as she invites these meme celebrities on her show and gives them a bigger platform and audience; therefore increasing their opportunities with fame. An example of this are cousins Sophia Grace Brownlee and Rose McClelland who went viral on YouTube for covering Nicki Minaj’s song SuperBass; ‘they were subsequently groomed by The Ellen Show into a multi-platform celebrity duo. 

In my opinion, Abidin easily guides the reader through the development stages of what it takes to be a successful meme while displaying examples and incorporating the positive traits that traditional media may have on progressing a meme. To conclude, the example of Sophia and Brownlee, is a prime example of how traditional media, such as television shows can boost meme personalities in order for them to gain fame away from just the internet and become names that appear in household conversations; displaying the positive relationship that traditional media can have with the digital world.

Word Count: 570

References

Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity : Understanding Fame Online, Emerald Publishing Limited

Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. (2018, October 22). What Makes Memes So Catchy? Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/science-of-memes-4147457

Desjardins, October 7 2016, Chart: The Slow Death of Traditional Media, retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/chart-slow-death-traditional-media/

Huffington Post Live, January 7th, 2015, The Real Story Of Bad Luck Brian, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egcl-0GRo00 

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The importance of Physical Attractiveness with Internet Celebrities

As internet celebrities have continued to rise so have the amount of influencers, particularly within the beauty industry. ‘From 2007 onwards, brands really started paying attention to bloggers [and vloggers], and influencer marketing was born’ (Bianchi, 2016). In this post I aim to look at the importance of psychical attractiveness in regards to being a successful internet celebrity; as well as why internet celebrities may be more powerful than traditional celebrities in terms of marketing. 

Instagram, a social media platform that is a dominantly photo sharing, ‘entails that creating perfection is highly valued because of the attraction aesthetics’ (Nouri, 2018). This suggests that to be a successful ‘Instafamous’ celebrity; importance must be placed on beauty or the appreciation of beauty. This contrasts with Youtube’s sharing of multimedia where ‘behind the scenes action, unique personality, and content that you can find helpful, educational, or relatable is valued’ (ibid). This indicates the importance of the social media platform chosen to be used. Some platforms place more significance on beauty than others; however although there is more opportunity to find fame away from beauty on youtube, it is also the host of many beauty vloggers where beauty is central to their successfulness. An example of this is beauty vlogger Zoella, who recently celebrated 11 million subscribers. Beginning by posting videos of herself in her bedroom, Zoella has self-branded herself into a beauty entrepreneur with her own beauty range as well as advice on food, lifestyle, holiday destinations and fashion. This has gained her a huge loyal fanbase, making her a powerful influencer. As mentioned earlier, Youtube is also a platform for internet celebrities to be born away from the focus of physical attraction; an example of this is famous influencer Liza Koshy. With over 16 million subscribers, Koshy is an example of how personality and comedy also attracts attention and negates the view that physical attraction is importance as no significance is placed on beauty, with some videos even mocking beauty vlogs. 

In her book, Abidin states the qualities which she believes makes a successful influencer. Along with the factors ‘exotic’ and ‘everydayness’, she mentions ‘exclusivity’ as an important triumphant aspect. This is ‘the glamorisation and celebration of practices and possessions so elite in access or rare in occurrence that would be unusual for ordinary people to experience without high economic capital’(Abidin, 2018). With the example of ‘the rich kids of Instagram’, this depicts internet celebrities as people that are unique or more than the ‘ordinary’ individual. Another quality Abidin picks up on is ‘excpetionalism’, again focussing away from beauty, exceptionalism captures audiences by displaying ‘astounding qualities, or expert skills of a person’ (ibid). In other words, an individual which displays a talent or quality that is difficult to find amongst normal society. An example of this is six year old Anke Chen who impressed the internet with her piano skills and was invited to the world renowned Ellen show as her talent was recognised, allowing her to gather more fame. This summarises that these qualities, mentioned by Abidin, can all apply to beauty but do not focus on it suggesting the idea that although beauty and attraction is important in terms of photo dominated platforms, the internet and social media is such a huge realm entailing that success can also be found away from it.

To conclude, in my opinion, beauty can be seen to be important in gaining an audience for influencers focussing on beauty advice. However, it depends on the social media platform which is used; As Abidin has highlighted, there are many other factors involved and success can be found within the internet celebrity world without the focus of physical attraction.

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References 

Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity : Understanding Fame Online, Emerald Publishing Limited

Nouri, Melody, (2018). ThePower of Influence: Traditional Celebrity vs Social Media Influencer". Advanced Writing: Pop Culture Intersections. 32.

Sophie Bianchi, Huffington Post, UK edition, April 2017

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The Internets Impact on Parasocial Relationships

In ‘Internet celebrity: Understanding Fame Online’, Crystal Abidin emphasises the impact the internet has had on parasocial relationships (Abidin, 2018). This post compares the parasocial relationships between the audiences of both traditional and internet celebrities, in order to investigate whether the internet has impacted these relationships in a positive or negative way. 

Horton and Wohl define ‘parasocial interaction’ as ‘the illusion of real, face-to-face friendships with performers that is created through watching television shows or listening to music’ (1956). Since then, the rapid advancement of social media and the internet has allowed parasocial relationships to increase on platforms such as youtube, Instagram, twitter and many more. Traditionally, celebrities develop parasocial relationships with audiences through more conventional attributes; I.e their achievements, talents and positions within the traditional medium of the television or cinema (Abidin, 2018). However, Turner states that even after moving away from the spotlight, this relationship is still maintained through traditional press ‘reporting on the private lives’ of these individuals ‘even if these affairs are are not directly connected to the skills or positions that first made them publicly famous’ (Turner, 2004). This emphasises that although traditional celebrities are firstly known for their accomplishments, interest is then placed on their identities which becomes their greatest commodities allowing them to socially influence audiences based on the foundations of the parasocial relationship made. In contrast to these individuals are micro-celebrities; Abidin uses this term to describe ‘users who employ digital media technologies and platforms to garner popularity by performing on the internet’ (2018, page 11). Differing from traditional celebrities, these internet celebrities ‘produce themselves as a brand and commodity’ (Jerslev & Mortensen, 2015) and interact with viewers through contemporary mediums, such as Youtube or Instagram; in order to gain their audiences initial interest and create a parasocial relationship.

Internet celebrities who use platforms such as Instagram and Youtube encourage audience interaction through likes, comments and direct messages (Nouri YEAR). This constantly updates them on audience views and opinions about the content posted and also works vice versa, meaning the celebrities are able to respond back to these comments in an attempt minimise the distance between them and strengthen their parasocial relationship; proving the internet’s influence as beneficial to the celebrity-audience relationship. In terms of social media platforms although traditional celebrities are followed by millions, when looking at interactional skills between them and their followers ‘there is somewhat disconnect with their audiences’ (Nouri, page 10). An example of this is Selena Gomez, an actor and singer, who’s Instagram account has 144 million followers compared to the small amount of 49 people she follows back. Her latest photo informed her fans of the social media break she was taking - having received 380 thousand comments, none of which were replies by the artist herself, it can be seen that traditional celebrities seem to be ‘of a disconnect with their audience’ (Nouri, 2018, pg 10).  

To conclude, it can be seen that the increase of popularity amongst social media platforms such as Youtube and Instagram has also enabled the growth of micro-celebrities. The strong influence of the internet has therefore enabled more contact between celebrities and audiences, developing parasocial relationships in a positive way. However, these relationships ‘must be maintained in order to stay respected in the minds of their audience which is where traditional celebrities are lacking’ (Nouri, 2018, pg 11) showing that if not regularly enforced, the internet can also have detrimental effects on the parasocial relationship.

Word count: 530 

References 

Turner, Graeme. 2004. Understanding Celebrity. Los Angeles: Sage.

Abidin, Crystal. 2018. Internet Celebrity : Understanding Fame Online, Emerald Publishing Limited

Horton, Donald, and Wohl, R. Richard. 1956. “Mass communication and parasocial interaction.”

Jerslev, A., & Mortensen, M. (2015). What is the self in the celebrity selfie? Celebrification, phatic communication and performativity.  Celebrity Studies.

Nouri, Melody, (2018). ThePower of Influence: Traditional Celebrity vs Social Media Influencer". Advanced Writing: Pop Culture Intersections. 32.