Social Media Analyst Emily Hund We Can Never Know The Truth Behind An Influencer's Seeming Authenticity' Social Media The Guardian

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Social media analyst Emily Hund: ‘We can

never know the truth behind an influencer’s
seeming authenticity’
Alice Fisher
7–9 minutos
In the early 00s, Emily Hund dreamed of a career as a journalist at a glossy
fashion magazine. But after internships with New York media companies and
having witnessed falling circulations and redundancies, she switched to studying
one of the catalysts for these changes: social media and the influencers whose
YouTube, TikTok and Instagram posts sell ideas, lifestyles and products to their
followers. The influencer industry ranges from global stars such as the
Kardashians to micro-influencers who post on 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 Pennsylvania University’s Centre on Digital Culture
and Society and her first book on influencers is published in the UK this month.
How did social media take hold in people’s lives?
There was a lot of optimism about social media in the 00s when technology first
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 got interested. This was all
happening against a crisis in traditional media and they were looking for new
ways to promote products.
The first influencers such as Tavi Gevinson and Michelle Phan 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 venerate entrepreneurs and love the idea of people “being
themselves” in academia and business, and also 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’re 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 an influencer’s success?
There was a huge influx of influencers after the first wave got recognition and
money. That led to a flood of content, and all the advertising and marketing
people jostled around trying to work 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 you were “more
real” than the next person; not only true to yourself, but an authentic match to a
brand.
That sounds horrible. I thought being an influencer was fun?
I would not call it a good job. Those who get million-dollar deals are a
microscopic slice of a huge industry. There’s a lot of troubling racial and gender
dynamics and there’s also inequality between influencers and the social media
platforms. At the start, bloggers just posted to their personal blog, but then Meta
and TikTok ate 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 running foul of the brands or
their followers. If engagement tanks, it’s really hard. If you get a bad response to
a picture of you in a swimsuit 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
any more.
The influencer industry has a mainly female workforce. Do you think
sexism is involved in the bad working conditions?
Absolutely. One of my first papers analysed influencer aesthetics, and we found
that those ranked top by marketing and advertising fell into stereotypical western
beauty ideals: thin, feminine, white, straight.
The fact that women drove the industry also meant it didn’t get taken seriously,
or it was disparaged as women being self-involved or vain. It took events such
as the 2017 Fyre festival [a disastrous music event hyped on social media] to
make the broader public realise these people had genuine power.
How has the influencer industry changed as it has developed?
Now cultural and political industries are involved it’s more complex. For a long
time influencers were vehicles for commercial messaging but now it’s blatantly
about spreading ideas as well as products. There was an uptick in the time
people spent on social media during lockdown and lots of new types of
influencers appeared – scientific and medical influencers, but also people who
positioned themselves as experts or sceptics.
That couldn’t have happened without Instagram Stories and TikTok: 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
cases such as the “pump and dump” securities fraud (in which social media
influencers in the US were charged with feeding followers misinformation
in a $100m stock scheme)?
The influencers I’ve interviewed expressed their desires to be themselves online
as best they could. But one phrased it in a particularly memorable way: being
“authentic but not accurate”. Portray yourself in a way that feels real enough,
and is basically true, but maybe you don’t actually use this product, or do this
meal or exercise routine every day, or maybe there are relationships behind the
scenes that aren’t fully disclosed.
It’s hard to say how common coordinated schemes such as pump and dump
are. If someone is committing a crime on the level of securities fraud, that’s not
something you necessarily see every day – though that doesn’t mean there
aren’t people out there trying.
Kim Kardashian, who was charged by US authorities for promoting a
cryptocurrency without disclosing the payment she received in return.
Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images
What do you think of Kim Kardashian promoting cryptocurrencies? Isn’t that
an odd combination?
Every level of influencer can offer something to an advertiser. Working with Kim
Kardashian, who has hundreds of millions of followers along with celebrity
cachet, can quickly get your brand a ton of exposure and drive sales. What I
don’t understand, frankly, is the appeal of these deals to her and others at her
level who don’t necessarily need the money. Financial and health products, in
particular, carry a lot of risk to her personal brand and have got her in trouble
with the US Federal Trade Commission.
What did you think of the viral TikTok by Romy Mars (in which the 16-year-
old daughter of film-maker Sofia Coppola makes vodka pasta sauce and
reveals she was grounded after trying to charter a helicopter using her
father’s credit card to fly to a meal with a friend)? Is it a hoax?
It’s a great example of how we can never know with certainty what the truth is
behind influencers’ seeming authenticity. She was either leveraging the
technology and communicative norms of TikTok to make a piece of nepo baby
[nepotism baby, the successful children of celebrities] art, or was a teen sharing
what was going on in her life. We can’t know. And that’s the point.
Do you follow any influencers’ advice?
I’m totally guilty of buying stuff suggested by influencers. In a world where you’re
overwhelmed by information, they can give you a good recommendation. I
bought a rug for my bedroom that I really like because of an influencer – and I
still enjoy it five years later.
You just need to be aware that there are many levers at work behind the content
we encounter. There’s a lot more to it than being ourselves.
• The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media by Emily
Hund is published by Princeton (£25). To support the Guardian and the
Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may
apply

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theguardian.

Social media analyst Emily Hund: ‘We can

In the early 00s, Emily Hund dreamed of a career as a journalist at a glossy

having witnessed falling circulations and redundancies, she switched to studying

Kardashians to micro-influencers who post on niche interests. What they have in

now a research affiliate at Pennsylvania University’s Centre on Digital Culture

How did social media take hold in people’s lives?

ways to promote products.

with no industry experience become gurus on social media?

As a society, we venerate entrepreneurs and love the idea of people “being

themselves” in academia and business, and also in celebrity culture. So there

makeup or fashion. That gave them credibility.

But “authentic” is such a nebulous quality. How did it become a measure

enough to be influential in the quantitative sense – the number of followers you

That sounds horrible. I thought being an influencer was fun?

and there is no transparency about their algorithms.

a picture of you in a swimsuit or something, you wonder if people think you’re

The influencer industry has a mainly female workforce. Do you think

sexism is involved in the bad working conditions?

Absolutely. One of my first papers analysed influencer aesthetics, and we found

beauty ideals: thin, feminine, white, straight.

or it was disparaged as women being self-involved or vain. It took events such

How has the influencer industry changed as it has developed?

positioned themselves as experts or sceptics.

videos are ideal.

Is it common for influencers to knowingly mislead their audience, as in

influencers in the US were charged with feeding followers misinformation

in a $100m stock scheme)?

The influencers I’ve interviewed expressed their desires to be themselves online

scenes that aren’t fully disclosed.

aren’t people out there trying.

Kim Kardashian, who was charged by US authorities for promoting a

cryptocurrency without disclosing the payment she received in return.

Photograph: Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

What do you think of Kim Kardashian promoting cryptocurrencies? Isn’t that

Kardashian, who has hundreds of millions of followers along with celebrity

with the US Federal Trade Commission.

father’s credit card to fly to a meal with a friend)? Is it a hoax?

behind influencers’ seeming authenticity. She was either leveraging the

technology and communicative norms of TikTok to make a piece of nepo baby

Do you follow any influencers’ advice?

overwhelmed by information, they can give you a good recommendation. I

still enjoy it five years later.

we encounter. There’s a lot more to it than being ourselves.

Hund is published by Princeton (£25). To support the Guardian and the

Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may

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