Crystal Abidin – författare

Influencer marketing often gets touted as more authentic, democratised, credible, and relatable than traditional marketing tactics. But such hype glosses over its messy sociocultural dynamics and underlying disparities. This book discusses and debates the complexities of influencer marketing, casting a critical and interdisciplinary lens on its practices, consumption, and far-reaching societal impact.

Beneath the surface of likes, shares, and selfies lies critical questions around power imbalances, tensions, and transformations in a content-driven marketplace. How have historical, economic, and technological changes shaped the development and maturation of influencer marketing as a scholarly field and an industry practice? Who attains the mantle of an influencer; what attributes transcend traditional categorisations; how are the complexities of identity portrayed through influencer culture; and how do so-called ‘nontraditional influencers’ connect with audiences and disseminate their perspectives in unique ways? How do evolving influencer-audience relationships foster mutual benefits and potential pitfalls?

Influencer marketing has evolved from a marketing tactic to a cultural phenomenon. It is shaped, and is shaped by, the currents of culture. By bridging theoretical perspectives and crossing disciplinary boundaries, the chapters in this volume advance the readers’ understanding of influencer marketing by bringing to life its complexities, embracing its messiness, and highlighting future potentialities.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Marketing Management.

Influencer marketing often gets touted as more authentic, democratised, credible, and relatable than traditional marketing tactics. But such hype glosses over its messy sociocultural dynamics and underlying disparities. This book discusses and debates the complexities of influencer marketing, casting a critical and interdisciplinary lens on its practices, consumption, and far-reaching societal impact.

Beneath the surface of likes, shares, and selfies lies critical questions around power imbalances, tensions, and transformations in a content-driven marketplace. How have historical, economic, and technological changes shaped the development and maturation of influencer marketing as a scholarly field and an industry practice? Who attains the mantle of an influencer; what attributes transcend traditional categorisations; how are the complexities of identity portrayed through influencer culture; and how do so-called ‘nontraditional influencers’ connect with audiences and disseminate their perspectives in unique ways? How do evolving influencer-audience relationships foster mutual benefits and potential pitfalls?

Influencer marketing has evolved from a marketing tactic to a cultural phenomenon. It is shaped, and is shaped by, the currents of culture. By bridging theoretical perspectives and crossing disciplinary boundaries, the chapters in this volume advance the readers’ understanding of influencer marketing by bringing to life its complexities, embracing its messiness, and highlighting future potentialities.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Marketing Management.

Instagram is at the heart of global digital culture, having made selfies, filters and square frames an inescapable part of everyday life since it was launched in 2010.

In the first book-length examination of Instagram, Tama Leaver, Tim Highfield and Crystal Abidin trace how this quintessential mobile photography app has developed as a platform and a culture. They consider aspects such as the new visual social media aesthetics, the rise of Influencers and new visual economies, and the complex politics of the platform as well as examining how Instagram''s users change their use of the platform over time and respond to evolving features. The book highlights the different ways Instagram is used by subcultural groups around the world, and how museums, restaurants and public spaces are striving to be ''Insta-worthy''. Far from just capturing milestones and moments, the authors argue that Instagram has altered the ways people communicate and share, while also creating new approaches to marketing, advertising, politics and the design of spaces and venues.

Rich with grounded examples from across the world, from birth pictures to selfies at funerals, Instagram is essential reading for students and scholars of media and communication.

Launched in 2007, tumblr became a safe haven for LGBT youth, social justice movements, and a counseling station for mental health issues. For a decade, this micro-blogging platform had more users than either Twitter or Snapchat, but it remained an obscure subculture for nonusers.

Katrin Tiidenberg, Natalie Ann Hendry, and Crystal Abidin offer the first systematic guide to tumblr and its crucial role in shaping internet culture. Drawing on a decade of qualitative data, they trace the prominent social media practices of creativity, curation, and community-making, and reveal tumblr’s cultlike appeal and position in the social media ecosystem. The book demonstrates how diverse cultures can – in felt and imagined silos - coexist on a single platform and how destructive recent trends in platform governance are. The concept of “silosociality” is introduced to critically re-think social media, interrogate what kinds of sociality it affords, and what (unintended) consequences arise.

This book is an essential resource for students and scholars of media and communication, as well as anyone interested in an influential but overlooked platform.