The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media

The Influencer Industry explores how the rise of social media influencers has transformed culture, information flow, and our relationships. It reveals how early digital creators monetized their personal brands during the Great Recession, leading to a multibillion-dollar industry that has far-reaching consequences. Hund's book highlights the cultural and economic costs of this industry and how influencers exploit its constructions of authenticity.

Format: Hardback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 14 February 2023
Publisher: Princeton University Press

Before the advent of Instagram likes, Twitter hashtags, or TikTok trends, there existed a group of bloggers who possessed a genuine passion and authenticity that traditional media often lacked. This captivating narrative is explored in The Influencer Industry, a book that delves into the origins of the multibillion-dollar industry that has profoundly impacted culture, information dissemination, and our interpersonal relationships.

Drawing upon dozens of in-depth interviews with prominent social media influencers, brand executives, marketers, talent managers, trend forecasters, and other key figures, Emily Hund sheds light on how early industry participants, driven by the need for employment amidst the Great Recession, focused on building and monetizing digital personal brands as a means of asserting control over their professional trajectories in a period of profound economic uncertainty.

Over time, these individuals' endeavors converged into an industry whose reach extends far beyond the original aspirations of its founders and even their grasp. Hund vividly illustrates how the techniques they developed for creating, monetizing, and marketing social media content have permeated our daily lives, while also unraveling the unforeseen cultural and economic consequences.

The Influencer Industry unveils the fascinating truth that, in an increasingly fragmented and profit-driven communications landscape, the individuals we perceive as "real" are merely those who have adeptly capitalized on the industry's ever-evolving constructs of authenticity. This insightful exploration challenges our perceptions and sheds light on the complex dynamics that shape our interactions with influencers and the wider social media ecosystem.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 163 x 243 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691231020