Social Media Influencers as Commodity

In March 2018, Tarte Cosmetics sent several beauty vloggers (video bloggers) to the luxury Four Seasons island resort in Bora Bora (See Fig. 1). This is not the first-time companies like Tarte have whisked these social media influencers (SMI) away on all-expenses-paid trips around the world. Brands are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on these social media stars in the hope that they will post a promotional picture or video of their new product. After an in-class discussion, regarding celebrities as commodities, I became interested in discovering how the democratization and diversification of celebrity culture has contributed to the current trend of companies wanting to use these ‘micro-celebrities’ (Senft, 2012).

Figure 1.

User-Generated Content and Web 2.0 ‘Web 2.0’ (O’Reilly, 2005) prompted a shift in the way we interact with the media, as well as each other, by ‘changing [the] orientation between online content producers, consumers, and web technologies’ (Stefanoe & Lackaff, 2009: 965). Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein (2010: 61) have stated that ‘Web 2.0 [was] the platform for the evolution of social media’. This new media environment has given rise to a new breed of celebrities, ones created on social networking sites (SNS), through their production of user-generated content (UGC).

UGC ‘refers to media content created or produced by the general public rather than by paid professionals’ (Daugherty, et al., 2013: 16). Those who partake in creating content, including uploading videos to YouTube and posting photos on Instagram, can go on to acquire worldwide fame and success. They achieve this by ‘generating a form of “celebrity” capital by cultivating as much attention as possible and crafting an authentic “personal brand”’ (Hearn & Schoenhoff, 2016: 194). Some people have successfully used social media as a gateway to more traditional avenues of fame, including Justin Bieber and Alessia Cara. Many others, who choose to use social media as a career option, are redefining what it means to be a celebrity by ‘establish[ing] themselves outside of the standard channels’ (Saul, 2016). These online identities created by individuals ‘can subsequently be used by companies and advertisers for consumer outreach’ (Hearn & Schoenhoff, 2016: 194). There has been a great deal of research in the field of reality TV and how it has redefined the route to fame, with Graeme Turner (2009: 34) stating that ‘reality TV [is] a positively empowering development which has opened the media up to new participants in ways that mirror the democratization so often attributed to the digital revolution and the rise of Web 2.0’. I believe there is an opportunity for more research to be undertaken in assessing the current rise of social media celebrities and their increasing use by brands to promote and disseminate products. The Authenticity of Social Media Influencers Whilst some theorists, including Alice Marwick (2014: 114), believe that SMI are ‘micro-celebrities’ who are only ‘famous to a niche group of people’, others are recognising that these pseudo-celebrities can be highly influential, hence the term influencer, to their millions of followers. One of the main reasons why influencers are able to become so successful is how they present themselves online. The majority of SMI frame themselves as ‘ordinary’ people whose fame, and subsequent excessive wealth is ‘both inspirational and seemingly replicable’ (Khamis, et al., 2017: 194). ‘It is often noted how beauty vloggers produce their videos with a simple laptop, often in their bedroom, thus encouraging an ‘anyone can do it!’ message’ (Elias, et al., 2017: 277). Vloggers also make themselves appear approachable by regularly interacting with their fans, including replying to comments on their content, as well as holding ‘meet and greets’. SNS have been linked to feelings ‘of trust, relevance, personalisation and intimacy’ which can potentially evoke an aura of authenticity (MacRury, 2008: 85). Companies recognise the power these feelings can have in promoting brand loyalty and many are beginning to mimic the style and content of UGC for their major advertising campaigns. A recent example of this is an Avon advertisement which featured several amateur beauty vloggers reviewing products.

The women featured above filmed separate videos for their own channels with their reactions to the products they were given. These individual videos were then edited by Avon to form an advertisement for television and online. We get a sense of familiarity whilst viewing this as the vloggers featured are talking to the camera in a way we synonymize with YouTube. The language being used, ‘hello friends’, is chatty and informal and we are meant to assume that they are giving their honest and reliable feedback.

Brands who use SMI wish to align themselves with the influencers supposed authenticity. The success of beauty vloggers, for example, ‘depends on their fan base believing that they are ‘ordinary’ women whose labour is based in passion and love for putting on make-up, not in a sheer desire to be discovered by the industry or financial success’ (Elias, et al., 2017: 275). Most viewers do not mind product placement ‘as long as [YouTubers] remain authentic, implying sincerity and trustworthiness’ (García-Rapp, 2017: 126). The popularity of these beauty vloggers is even said to be ‘changing the face of the make-up industry’ (Wiseman, 2014). With their millions of followers and subscribers, they are able to successfully promote products, and many can receive a substantial pay cheque for doing some. It has been reported that some vloggers can earn ‘$10,000 to $15,000 per product placement’ (2014). Perhaps this is because in 2017 beauty-related videos on YouTube generated more than ‘88 billion views’ and according to a consumer trust survey conducted by Olapic (2016: 4), ‘almost a quarter of respondents say they have bought a product after seeing it featured in UGC’ (Statista, 2018).

Conclusion

The rise of social media celebrities has been attributed to a generation’s entrepreneurialism, however, others believe it is a symptom of ‘an economy that cannot afford to hire them’ (Senft, 2012: 349). Seeing how successful people can become through their use of social media promotes ‘the notion that fame has never been more accessible to so many people [which] now provides the illusion of opportunity’ (Sternheimer, 2011: 24). Those who are able to cultivate a successful and authentic online presence are in a unique position to be able to influence a large number of people. Brands want to use the trust that has been built between influencer and audience to sell products in a way that is seemingly genuine. Some worry however that ‘with the [continued] commodification of the self, individuals are locked into a mode of constant promotion’ (Khamis, et al., 2017: 201). What effect this will have on society is yet to be seen. Some theorists are optimistic, citing that ‘young women in their teens and early twenties for the first time have found platforms that allow them to speak without censorship to large public audiences’ (Rettberg, 2014: 18). Whilst others suggest that we are entering ‘an era of new narcissism’ (Alberoni, 2006) due to our ‘consumer-oriented and media-saturated culture’ (Tyler, 2007: 344). Francesco Alberoni (2006: 119) claims that our cultural obsession with gaining celebrity status, and consequently wealth, is unstainable and ultimately unachievable. He describes it as a ‘narcotizing illusion’ which prevents us from ‘taking stock of [our] real condition as exploited masses’ (2006:119-120).

List of Figures

Figure 1a: AlishaMarieVlogs (2018) Taking a PRIVATE Plane to BORA BORA!! [YouTube]. Available at: https://youtu.be/_OzIQNz71PE (Accessed: 18/04/2018).

Figure 1b: RemLife (2018) PRIVATE BORA BORA VILLA TOUR!! MOST INSANE RESORT EVER! [YouTube]. Available at: https://youtu.be/MHP2M72i-qY (Accessed: 18/04/2018).

Figure 2: Avon UK (2015) Beauty bloggers trying Avon make-up (more reactions!) #MakeUpYourOwnMind [YouTube]. Available at: https://youtu.be/OmF_1z5hGgM(Accessed: 18/04/2018).

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