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Social media influencers and followers

  • Writer: Lianne Yu
    Lianne Yu
  • May 1, 2024
  • 5 min read

In recent years, the monetization of hobbies have become prevalent in society, especially on social media platforms. The pressures of having a perfectly filtered and curated online presence seemingly increase over time. Despite this, the idealisation of becoming an influencer is still on the rise. According to CNBC, studies have shown that more children have dreams of becoming professional Youtubers rather than astronauts (Taylor, 2019). The realities of mentally draining and physically demanding work with no days off are often concealed by the glamorous narratives of having a self starting, entrepreneurial, self producing dream career. 


According to Jones and Pittman, there are five important impression management strategies: (1) self promotion, where individuals highlight their strengths and achievements in an attempt to be perceived as competent; (2) ingratiation, where individuals seek to gain favour or favourable acceptance through deliberate effort such as flattery; (3) exemplification, where individuals seek to be seen as dedicated by performing acts of self sacrifice or go beyond their call of duties; (4) intimidation, where individuals seek to be viewed as dangerous by flaunting their powers and their potential to punish others; and (5) supplication, where individuals accentuate their weaknesses in order to be perceived as being needy (Jones and Pittman, 1982). In today's digital age, one’s physical social presence need not be the equal to their online social media presence. With the rapid growth of social media culture and other online communication techniques, it has become increasingly common for influencers to manage and present themselves as performers or curated characters. Tactics of self branding and self presentation mostly centre around emphasising appealing attributes to one’s personality and concealing aspects that are less desirable (Chen, 2014). 

In our film, we decided to explore the perspectives of a social media influencer and their followers. Jamia Simmons - viral TikTok star and the protagonist of our film, is shown in an interview setting, answering questions in relation to her journey to online fame. This character is portrayed as spontaneous, quick witted and charismatic. Online content creators often benefit from having a unique personality that can attract viewers instantaneously, while also possessing some form of relatability so that viewers can easily form social and emotional connections with said creators (Rasmussen, 2018). Marketing, advertising and media are mutually dependent on one another. Businesses rely on social media influencers to gain audience exposure and user generated content (UGC), whilst social media influencers rely on companies to generate income and revenue, mainly through sponsorships and endorsements. Because of this, up and coming social media influencers would strive to market themselves to look extemporaneous and effortless in order to attract as many loyal fans as possible. This aesthetic of ‘carefully curated casual’ is prominent in online spaces in this day and age, especially on short form video apps such as TikTok. Influencers such as Emma Chamberlain, Charli D’Amelio and Addison Rae have all gained huge followings through TikTok and have now been deemed as micro celebrities. The term originally coined by Theresa Senft “is best understood as a new style of online performance that involves people 'amping up' their popularity over the Web using technologies like video, blogs and social networking sites” (Senft, 2008). 

However, many argue that this form of authenticity is highly performative, and that it is “strategically deployed to build emotional and affective resonance with an audience” (Shtern, 2019, pp.13-14). In the film, Jamia directly addresses her fans multiple times. This indicates that she as a social media influencer has built an expensive rapport with her own niche audience. In the entertainment industry, parasocial relationships have been common with mainstream celebrities with strong public images such as actors, musical artists, as well as organisations such as football teams. Parasocial relationships stem from parasocial interactions (Horton and Wohl, 1956). Parasocial interactions allude to a feigned sense of mutual awareness that occurs during one sided viewings. For example, one of Jamia’s avid fans would actively like, save and comment on all of her TikTok videos. This fan could then assume that Jamia is aware of their existence and automatically presumes that they are being personally addressed. While social media influencers are garnering loyalty and trust from fans, most of them are also trying to glean approval and investment from brands. In today’s matured and saturated stage of influencer culture, many questions on source credibility of influencers have been raised (Lou and Yuan, 2019). Audiences have been increasingly sceptical of social media influencers’ trustworthiness, especially under the conditions of sponsored posts and PR products where the influencer is getting paid and financial or material gain is involved. For example, studies have shown that travel influencers can be paid up to $31,000 per post (Kay et al., 2020). As a result, the efficiency of a brand’s endorsements, such as brand awareness and purchase intentions, is directly linked to the credibility of the endorsed social media influencer. Even so, influencers are finding more ways to balance their connections with fans and their professional relationships with brands. According to Forbes, saturation rate is a core element to maintain a balance between organic and sponsored content. Saturation rate (SR) is the ratio of a content creator’s total posts and the number of sponsored posts they have done. Influencer credibility and saturation rate are interconnected, therefore if their SR surpasses 50%, their credibility will be subsequently lowered, also affecting the efficiency of sponsored posts.

Social media provides new and practical ways for influencers to take advantage of parasocial relationships as a vehicle for branding, advertising and public relations. However, in order to have an enduring and established career online, it is crucial that the relationship between users and producers are kept healthy and not toxic. Social media influencers must establish their own set of boundaries between themselves, their audience and brands they work with. 


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© 2024 by Lianne Yu. 

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