Authenticity is a prominent topic for conversation in media studies, “defined through as a communicative process” (Enli, 2015, 3). With influencing, authenticity is often presented as a humanist phenomenon, concerned with one’s ability to make decisions over how to present themselves, and whether this is accepted by followers. Influencers self-brand, which includes extensive labour to remain visible, utilising certain affordances that best showcase authenticity, building relationships with followers and overall being affective. However, through an examination of Instagram, I aim to make clear that in digital cultures, authenticity is a tension-built assemblage bound by negotiations between influencer performances and non-conscious, technical agencies. The technical agency of platforms is commonly overlooked when considering an influencers’ capacity to be authentic, and while the effects of this agency can be felt, its mechanisms are left undisclosed. Hence, my research question is ‘how is the authenticity of social media influencers on Instagram a product of performance and assemblage?’
This dissertation shall be sectioned into three chapters. Chapter one will explore the background to Instagram, how it is considered a platform through being entangled with the attention economy and affordances, and how this acted as a catalyst for the rise of the social media influencer. Chapter two will focus on authenticity, the types of labour involved with being an influencer and the affective dimensions that authenticity promotes. This shall elucidate the demands from creative work to have an audience, but also complexities in regards to how authenticity is performed, through an analysis of the influencers Molly-Mae Hague and Vicky Pattison. Finally, chapter three will investigate how authenticity is an assemblage of both human and non-conscious, black-boxed technical agents that operate upon and against one another.
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