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Authenticity, Commodification of the Self, and Micro-Influencers: An in-depth analysis into the online identity construction of South African micro-influencers within the Western Cape

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It was also found that their online performative identities relied on processes of self-commodification. In this sense, the construction of influencer profiles was dictated by the processes of self-commodification and by the influencers' understanding of how to create the perception of authenticity in the minds of their followers towards themselves online.

INTRODUCTION

I NSTAGRAM AND THE PUBLIC SPHERE

The purpose of this was to understand the factors that inform the platform processes that influence how individuals construct and present themselves online. Two prerequisites for a Habermasian notion of the public sphere to exist are: that citizens must be guaranteed freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of expression (Habermas, 1964).

C RITICAL P OLITICAL E CONOMY OF I NSTAGRAM

The algorithmic nature of Instagram does not allow the freedom of association or the freedom of expression, as it actively encourages certain connections, and favors certain content based on algorithmic predictions. Taha Yasserie, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, was quoted in an interview by the BBC as saying: "[t]his is not right, one company that owns four of the most popular social networking and communication applications can at best described as a data monopoly”.

A UTHENTICITY ON I NSTAGRAM

Affordances is a term in this regard that refers to the various elements that a platform offers to its users. In relation to the content analysis findings, it appeared that not only does Instagram have its own unique popular platform, as described by Gibbs et al. 2015), but each individual influencer presented their own enduring 'vernacular', which consisted of the unique ways in which they appropriated the possibilities of the platform when communicating their online identities to their followers.

C OMMODIFICATION OF THE SELF

Perhaps the most interesting theme that emerged from the interview portion of the study was that influencers felt that their consumption of certain products had an effect on their perceived authenticity in the minds of their followers. In relation to the commodification of the self, representations of gender within the mainstream media, as defined by Goffman (1979), were coded within the content analysis.

T HEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

  • Micro-influencer identity construction as a process of self-branding
  • Influencer marketing as modern word-of-mouth marketing
  • Political economy of social media
  • Identity construction and the commodification of the self

The first conceptualization of the commodification of the self involves viewing ourselves as a kind of commodity with exchange value on the market (Davis, 2003). This second conceptualization of the commodification of the self includes identity in terms of self-definition, namely being constructed by the products one consumes (Davis, 2003).

M ETHODS

  • Defining the micro-influencer
  • Sample
  • Focus groups
  • Individual interviews
  • Content analysis
  • Ethical considerations

A codebook was created which enabled the systematic and consistent analysis of the collected content. This is because all the influencers who participated in this research project have a public account that Instagram refers to.

F INDINGS

  • Content analysis
  • Interviews and focus groups

It was noted that in almost all the images that were coded, the influencers were present. The first concerned the ways in which the influencers constructed their online profiles.

C ONCLUSION

The main finding of this study was that micro-influencers construct their online identities through processes of commodification of the self. The second form of commodification of the self, found to be present in influencers' constructions of their online identity, focuses on the idea that one's identity is constructed through the products they consume (Davis, 2003).

LITERATURE REVIEW

I DENTITY CONSTRUCTION , THE PUBLIC SPHERE , AND THE MEDIATED CONTEXT OF ONLINE NETWORKS

  • Online identity construction as a form of subpolitics
  • The public sphere in the context of the internet
  • Political economy of social media

Habermas (1964) explained that he believed that magazines and newspapers, as well as television and radio, were public sphere media. Since Habermas' theory of the public sphere, we have witnessed important developments and changes in the media landscape.

S OCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS AND SELF - BRANDING

  • Identity construction as self-branding
  • Platform-specific self-branding
  • Word-of-mouth marketing
  • Defining social media influencers
  • Celebrities as sponsored brand ambassadors
  • Employees as brand ambassadors
  • Customers and consumers as brand ambassadors
  • A critical perspective on influencer brand value creation
  • Commodification of the self

While this is a form of identity construction, Duffy and Hund (2015: 6) note that the 'glamour life' is a constantly recurring lifestyle that exists primarily through the aesthetics and language of commercial brands. This third trope included bloggers who found a good balance between presenting the "glamorous life" but still sharing enough personal elements of their lives.

C ONCLUSION

Finally, the chapter concludes by introducing relevant debates within academic literature on the commodification of the self. Within mainstream academic literature, the commodification of the self has been expressed in two distinct ways.

METHODOLOGY AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

  • S AMPLING
  • F OCUS GROUPS
  • I NTERVIEWS
  • C ONTENT ANALYSIS
  • E THICAL CONSIDERATIONS
  • P UBLIC VS . PRIVATE
  • C OPYRIGHT CONSIDERATIONS
  • I NTERVIEW AND FOCUS GROUP ETHICS
  • C ONCLUSION

For the content analysis, a codebook was created, which will enable a systematic and consistent analysis of the data. Therefore, written consent was previously obtained from the influencers for the use of their content in the content analysis. The sample of 20 influencers used for content analysis was purposively selected to ensure that the influencers met the appropriate criteria to be considered micro-influencers.

CONTENT ANALYSIS FINDINGS

P LATFORM A FFORDANCES

  • Video vs. images
  • Tagging
  • Hashtags
  • Geotag
  • Comments

During the coding process, all these different aspects of a post were recorded to try to understand the influencers' practices, and how they made use of the different elements offered to them by the platform. Each post will use the same set of affordances that the rest of the posts within the sample of posts from that individual influencer used. On the contrary, again, what we observe is a tendency within the influencers samples of images that demonstrate a clear preference either for or against the use of geotags.

Figure 1: Photograph or video
Figure 1: Photograph or video

P HOTOGRAPHIC CONTENT

  • Subjects Present
  • Product Present
  • Clothing

Out of the 200 coded images, influencers were found to be present in 182 of the images. Out of 182 images, there were other subjects present in the image with the influencer in 26 images. Posts that consisted of the influencers' visible swimwear, or in some cases underwear, received an average engagement rate of 11%.

Figure 8: Table of engagement ratio according to clothing
Figure 8: Table of engagement ratio according to clothing

I DENTITY CONSTRUCTION

  • Touch
  • Ritualisation of subordination
  • Licensed withdrawal
  • Eroticisation of the body

It was found that only 28% of the male photos featured the influencer touching something. However, within the female sample, it was found that 65% of all the photos consisted of the females touching something. Within the total sample of influencers, 68% of the female photos consisted of the female influencers posing in a position of subordination.

Figure 9: Number of posts containing Touch
Figure 9: Number of posts containing Touch

C ONCLUSION

The eroticization of the body, as defined by Gill (2009), implies a high level of agency of the subject present, where they control the presentation and sexualization of their body, and any clear display of sexualization is the result of the deliberate use of these sources of self-presentation. It found that the more revealing the influencers' outfits, the higher the engagement levels that post received. The third section of the content analysis aimed to examine the ways in which the influencers' identities were constructed in their posts.

FOCUS GROUP AND INTERVIEW FINDINGS

C ONSTRUCTING A PROFILE

  • Niche
  • Style
  • Motivation

However, what was found was that they were all present to some degree in the construction of the influencers' online identity. The construction of the influencer profiles is central to understanding the construction and communication of their online identities. Niche, was perhaps one of the most important determining factors in shaping the influencers' online presence.

A UTHENTICITY

  • Creative Freedom

The perception of authenticity was explained as essential to one's success on the platform through attracting followers and engagement, but was also essential to successful branding work. This is due to the fact that when given complete creative freedom, their followers would not feel like it was the brand endorsing their product, but would be seen as a credible endorsement from the influencer. While creative freedom within the relationship between brand and influencer came up significantly, it was clearly a subset of the theme of authenticity, as influencers explained that when they were not given creative freedom, and rather prescribed content, their followers could indicated that it was not real or that it came from the influencer himself, and was therefore inauthentic.

C ONCLUSION

The second sub-theme that emerged in relation to the influencers' ways of constructing their online profiles was termed their "style" by the influencers. The third and final sub-theme present in the ways the influencers constructed their online profiles was the individual motivation of the influencers. This theme focused on the influencers' individual motivations to seek influencer status on Instagram.

DISCUSSION

I NSTAGRAM AS A PUBLIC SPHERE

  • Data collection, advertising and algorithms
  • Monopolisation of social media platforms
  • Section Conclusion

Instagram falls short of expectations to become a new form of the public sphere on these two accounts. For proponents of the Internet as a domain for expanding the public sphere, this seems to pose a bit of a problem. The two arguments presented here reject most notions that Instagram is a legitimate extension of the public sphere.

C REATING THE PERCEPTION OF AUTHENTICITY

  • Authenticity on Instagram
  • Consistency as a means of creating authenticity
  • Conclusion

One of the biggest concerns expressed by the influencers was for people to believe that their actions are not authentic. The statement above by one of the influencers who participated in an interview makes some claims through the use of interesting rhetoric. There were no trends across the influencers in the sample, but within each influencer's sample of posts analyzed, clear trends emerged.

C OMMODIFICATION OF THE SELF

  • Content analysis findings in relation to the commodification of the self
  • Conclusion

In this sense, the published images can be understood as a depiction of the influencers' self-definition. These findings illustrate another form of the commodification of the self that occurs among influencers on Instagram. The commodification of the self has been expressed by recent scholars in two different ways.

CONCLUSION

F INDINGS

  • Content analysis findings
  • Focus Group and Interview Findings

The third and final section of the content analysis focused on the ways in which identity was constructed within the influencers' posts. It was found that in almost all the posts that were coded, the influencers were present within the image as the main subject. All influencers noted that they had their own unique style of content creation.

C ONCLUSION

  • Instagram as a public sphere
  • Authenticity on Instagram
  • Instagram and the commodification of the self

About half of the images posted by the influencers simply featured this as the main subject. The commodification of the self has been expressed by scholars within mainstream literature in two fundamental ways (Davis, 2003). This second form of the commodification of the self argues that one's consumption patterns are central to one's identity.

R ECOMMENDATIONS FOR F URTHER R ESEARCH

He said, "look, I'd like to send you some free stuff, maybe you can help me sell it", and I said, "sure, I'll be happy to do that". People want to see "this is what you want," "this is you," and you put in the time and then people think, "this person is really serious about what they're doing, passionate about what they're doing." He is there. We love this photo and would love to work with you.” And then they send you these links.

The Post

Post Engagement

Photographic Content

Identity Construction Redone

Engagement

Figure

Figure 1: Photograph or video
Figure 2: Photograph or video by participant
Figure 3: Use of tagging by participant
Figure 4: Use of hashtags by participant
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References

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