TY - JOUR
T1 - Influencers as socio-technical actors: mapping the paths of influence and the traces of the digital influencers’ system in Italy
AU - Locatelli, Elisabetta
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomenon, one providing a
rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this
phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the
influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the
system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize
influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to
adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer
phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light
on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the chain of
communication industry. The argument will therefore start by reviewing the theories that address this
phenomenon and by sketching a genealogy, tracing its roots in the cultural and social context of the participatory
web and web 2.0. It will move, then, to investigate the dynamics of shaping social media platforms, reviewing the
studies that have investigated them, from the Social Shaping of Technology approach to platform studies. The
paper will apply the analysis to the Italian context, unfolding the dynamics of influence with the support of the case
study of ClioMakeUp (the leading beauty creator in Italy), examples, and grey literature from the Italian context.
In the final part, the paper will map the traces of the influencer system in Italy and the communication chain,
focusing on the processes of mutual shaping between brands, communication agencies, influencer enterprises,
regulatory bodies, media, and of course platforms. The STS approach proved to be useful in disentangling the
several actors of the system, but as platforms evolved the opportunities for mutual shaping have gradually
diminished as the balance of power seems to be tending in favor of the platforms. More research is needed to
further understand the concepts of closure, script, and relevant social groups within social media platforms.
AB - In recent years, digital influencers or digital opinion leaders have emerged as a global phenomenon, one providing a
rich field of investigation for several disciplines from sociology to marketing. The goal of the paper is to study this
phenomenon by adopting an ecological approach, not focusing only on a single dimension but observing the
influencer system as an environment with its own rules and subjects, examining the other components of the
system and tracing the relationships between them. The original contribution of this paper is to conceptualize
influencers as socio-technical actors, i.e. as social subjects that operate within technological platforms, and to
adopt an interdisciplinary approach, starting from sociological and marketing studies on the influencer
phenomenon and then moving on to STS studies that have focused on the social shaping of technology to shed light
on how the influencers are transforming the (social) media system in which they are inserted and then the chain of
communication industry. The argument will therefore start by reviewing the theories that address this
phenomenon and by sketching a genealogy, tracing its roots in the cultural and social context of the participatory
web and web 2.0. It will move, then, to investigate the dynamics of shaping social media platforms, reviewing the
studies that have investigated them, from the Social Shaping of Technology approach to platform studies. The
paper will apply the analysis to the Italian context, unfolding the dynamics of influence with the support of the case
study of ClioMakeUp (the leading beauty creator in Italy), examples, and grey literature from the Italian context.
In the final part, the paper will map the traces of the influencer system in Italy and the communication chain,
focusing on the processes of mutual shaping between brands, communication agencies, influencer enterprises,
regulatory bodies, media, and of course platforms. The STS approach proved to be useful in disentangling the
several actors of the system, but as platforms evolved the opportunities for mutual shaping have gradually
diminished as the balance of power seems to be tending in favor of the platforms. More research is needed to
further understand the concepts of closure, script, and relevant social groups within social media platforms.
KW - influencer, STS, social media, system, platforms
KW - influencer, STS, social media, system, platforms
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/179386
UR - https://papiro.unizar.es/ojs/index.php/rc51-jos/issue/view/294
U2 - 10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202013940
DO - 10.26754/ojs_jos/jos.202013940
M3 - Article
SN - 1607-8667
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - JOURNAL OF SOCIOCYBERNETICS
JF - JOURNAL OF SOCIOCYBERNETICS
ER -