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.

This edited collection considers how scholars conduct research on (everyday) politics in Southeast Asia via networks of internet popular culture. This includes artefacts, networks, groups, and cultures that are specific to Southeast Asian online practices, and that seek to represent, advocate for, provoke, or question how citizens "do" politics online.In the Southeast Asia region in particular, these behind-the-scenes minutiae of everyday decisions are all the more under-valued when researchers have been taught, conditioned, or cautioned to tiptoe around taboo or political topics implicitly policed by states and governments. The combination of media regimes with limited press freedoms, the employment of sedition acts against citizens, and the need to be strategic to secure state and industry funding for research have pressured or motivated scholars to strategically obscure certain research anecdotes in favour of a smoother publishing journey and/or posterity. As such, this collection serves as a sounding board and collection of reflections on what it really looks like to conduct research on everyday politics online in the Southeast Asian region, while navigating innovative media methods, negotiating inter-disciplinary gatekeeping, demands of publishing in tiered journals, and the tensions around legitimising one's methodological choices. This collection features four accounts of scholars contemplating the methodological and ethical conundrums when conducting research on Southeast Asian internet popular culture and everyday politics.This book will be useful for the readers in the disciplines of anthropology, Asian studies, communications, cultural studies, media studies, and science and technology studies.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

This book investigates how mourning is transformed in the digital age, where grief is mediated by algorithms, circulated through hashtags, and shaped by the economies of social media platforms.This timely edited collection explores the rise of digital mourning practices, from TikTok memorials and grief influencers to the politicisation of loss in activist movements. Through a platform-centric lens, the book examines how contemporary grief unfolds publicly, performatively, and often unequally in online spaces. This collection brings together interdisciplinary scholarship using methods including digital ethnography, visual analysis, and platform critique to reveal the architectures that govern digital mourning. It shows how platform logics determine whose grief is amplified and whose is erased, how moderation policies impact the persistence of loss online, and how mourning is entangled with attention economies, digital labour, and resistance. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how digital spaces both enable and constrain emotional expression, community care, and memory work during times of grief.This book will be essential reading for scholars across media and communication studies, death studies, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. It offers conceptual and methodological tools to engage critically with grief’s digital turn, addressing questions of visibility, performance, politics, and platform governance. As mourning becomes increasingly public, networked, and algorithmically structured, this book provides a necessary account of how grief is being reshaped in a rapidly changing media landscape.

This book investigates how mourning is transformed in the digital age, where grief is mediated by algorithms, circulated through hashtags, and shaped by the economies of social media platforms.This timely edited collection explores the rise of digital mourning practices, from TikTok memorials and grief influencers to the politicisation of loss in activist movements. Through a platform-centric lens, the book examines how contemporary grief unfolds publicly, performatively, and often unequally in online spaces. This collection brings together interdisciplinary scholarship using methods including digital ethnography, visual analysis, and platform critique to reveal the architectures that govern digital mourning. It shows how platform logics determine whose grief is amplified and whose is erased, how moderation policies impact the persistence of loss online, and how mourning is entangled with attention economies, digital labour, and resistance. Readers will gain a deeper understanding of how digital spaces both enable and constrain emotional expression, community care, and memory work during times of grief.This book will be essential reading for scholars across media and communication studies, death studies, sociology, anthropology, and psychology. It offers conceptual and methodological tools to engage critically with grief’s digital turn, addressing questions of visibility, performance, politics, and platform governance. As mourning becomes increasingly public, networked, and algorithmically structured, this book provides a necessary account of how grief is being reshaped in a rapidly changing media landscape.

This book investigates the intersections between influencer cultures and gender politics in contemporary Southeast Asia, a region experiencing rapid digital transformation and high social media engagement. It examines how influencers act as cultural intermediaries who negotiate, reinforce, or disrupt gender norms within predominantly collectivist and conservative societies.Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives, the chapters explore how influencer practices intersect with activism, morality, religion, and state narratives, positioning Southeast Asia as a critical site for rethinking digital power, identity, and resistance. By centring case studies from across the region, the book offers a timely intervention into global digital and gender studies. It foregrounds influencers as both everyday cultural figures and political actors whose engagements - ranging from modest fashion and queer visibility to strategic silences reshape public discourse. The volume brings together a diverse range of qualitative methodologies and field expertise, allowing readers to examine how notions of aspiration, authenticity, and advocacy are locally negotiated and globally resonant. In doing so, it equips scholars and students with rich empirical material and conceptual tools to interrogate the socio-political impact of influencer cultures.The book will be of particular interest to academics and advanced students in media and communication, gender studies, digital anthropology, and Southeast Asian studies. As such, it offers grounded insights into underexplored contexts while contributing to broader conversations about platform governance, identity politics, and digital labor. It is especially suited for use in teaching on digital culture and gender, offering comparative regional perspectives and methodological diversity.

This book investigates the intersections between influencer cultures and gender politics in contemporary Southeast Asia, a region experiencing rapid digital transformation and high social media engagement. It examines how influencers act as cultural intermediaries who negotiate, reinforce, or disrupt gender norms within predominantly collectivist and conservative societies.Drawing from interdisciplinary perspectives, the chapters explore how influencer practices intersect with activism, morality, religion, and state narratives, positioning Southeast Asia as a critical site for rethinking digital power, identity, and resistance. By centring case studies from across the region, the book offers a timely intervention into global digital and gender studies. It foregrounds influencers as both everyday cultural figures and political actors whose engagements - ranging from modest fashion and queer visibility to strategic silences reshape public discourse. The volume brings together a diverse range of qualitative methodologies and field expertise, allowing readers to examine how notions of aspiration, authenticity, and advocacy are locally negotiated and globally resonant. In doing so, it equips scholars and students with rich empirical material and conceptual tools to interrogate the socio-political impact of influencer cultures.The book will be of particular interest to academics and advanced students in media and communication, gender studies, digital anthropology, and Southeast Asian studies. As such, it offers grounded insights into underexplored contexts while contributing to broader conversations about platform governance, identity politics, and digital labor. It is especially suited for use in teaching on digital culture and gender, offering comparative regional perspectives and methodological diversity.

Looking at the phenomenon of visibility labour and attention economies on social media, this open access book focuses on the Asia Pacific region to examine the use of ‘drama’ online for internet fame/infamy and financial gain.On social media, the attention economy shapes and governs our engagement. Social media actors use a variety of tactics to gain our attention, to 'go viral', and to become 'internet famous'. They manufacture extraordinary events, curate their lives for us to consume, and play on our emotions to draw us in. But relying on only the picture perfect, the pristine, and the prestigious a la ‘aspirational’ role-modelling is fast becoming stale to audiences in this very saturated space.Enter the use of ‘online drama’ to wrestle for the attention spans of audiences, when social media actors use discursive and visual narratives centred on angst, shock, fear, shame, pity to generate visibility, yield interest, and provoke conversations in the gladiatorial arena of social media.Through a range of lively case studies spanning platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube, and popular online for a in the Asia Pacific region, this book explores topics such as 'shamelebrity', the ‘influencer apology’, ‘call out culture’, ‘cancel culture’, and ‘meme factories’ to unpack that peculiarly contemporary online phenomenon: the culture and economy of online drama.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian government.

Looking at the phenomenon of visibility labour and attention economies on social media, this open access book focuses on the Asia Pacific region to examine the use of ‘drama’ online for internet fame/infamy and financial gain.On social media, the attention economy shapes and governs our engagement. Social media actors use a variety of tactics to gain our attention, to 'go viral', and to become 'internet famous'. They manufacture extraordinary events, curate their lives for us to consume, and play on our emotions to draw us in. But relying on only the picture perfect, the pristine, and the prestigious a la ‘aspirational’ role-modelling is fast becoming stale to audiences in this very saturated space.Enter the use of ‘online drama’ to wrestle for the attention spans of audiences, when social media actors use discursive and visual narratives centred on angst, shock, fear, shame, pity to generate visibility, yield interest, and provoke conversations in the gladiatorial arena of social media.Through a range of lively case studies spanning platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube, and popular online for a in the Asia Pacific region, this book explores topics such as 'shamelebrity', the ‘influencer apology’, ‘call out culture’, ‘cancel culture’, and ‘meme factories’ to unpack that peculiarly contemporary online phenomenon: the culture and economy of online drama.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) from the Australian government.

Finalist for the Erving Goffman Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Social Interaction 2023Images of faces, bodies, selves and digital subjectivities abound on new media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and others—these images represent our new way of being online and of becoming socially mediated. Although researchers are examining digital embodiment, digital representations, and visual vernaculars as a mode of identity performance and management online, there exists no cohesive collection that compiles all these contemporary philosophies into one reader for use in graduate level classrooms or for scholars studying the field. The rationale for this book is to produce a scholarly fulcrum that pulls together scholars from disparate fields of inquiry in the humanities doing work on the common theme of the socially mediated body. The chapters in Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media represent a diverse list of contributors in terms of author representation, inclusivity of theoretical frameworks of analysis, and geographic reach of empirical work. Divided into three sections representing three dominant paradigms on the socially mediated body: representation, presentation, and embodiment, the book provides classic, creative, and contemporary reworkings of these paradigms.

Finalist for the Erving Goffman Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Social Interaction 2023Images of faces, bodies, selves and digital subjectivities abound on new media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, and others—these images represent our new way of being online and of becoming socially mediated. Although researchers are examining digital embodiment, digital representations, and visual vernaculars as a mode of identity performance and management online, there exists no cohesive collection that compiles all these contemporary philosophies into one reader for use in graduate level classrooms or for scholars studying the field. The rationale for this book is to produce a scholarly fulcrum that pulls together scholars from disparate fields of inquiry in the humanities doing work on the common theme of the socially mediated body. The chapters in Mediated Interfaces: The Body on Social Media represent a diverse list of contributors in terms of author representation, inclusivity of theoretical frameworks of analysis, and geographic reach of empirical work. Divided into three sections representing three dominant paradigms on the socially mediated body: representation, presentation, and embodiment, the book provides classic, creative, and contemporary reworkings of these paradigms.

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.

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.

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.

Social media is proliferating with influencers, but despite their prevalence and the extensive body of scholarship, there is no comprehensive book that frames the historical and contemporary phenomenon of child influencers.Drawing on original empirical ethnographic fieldwork and case studies from Asia Pacific and beyond, and spanning various digital platforms, this book looks at the emergence of child influencers and online fame more generally. Crystal Abidin, a pioneering scholar in this field, discusses key historical milestones, scandals, and the social and cultural contexts that have led to ordinary children becoming famous online, and how changing public discourse has resulted in important pivots in the ways we perceive them. The book addresses and challenges some of the moral panics against the visibility of children on social media and gives voice and agency to the children, their parents and guardians, and the agents and managers who have been striving to improve the child influencer market through their everyday practices and community norms.                                                          Child Influencers is illuminating reading for anyone who wants to understand the phenomena of children and online fame, and why they have proliferated so quickly in society.

Social media is proliferating with influencers, but despite their prevalence and the extensive body of scholarship, there is no comprehensive book that frames the historical and contemporary phenomenon of child influencers.Drawing on original empirical ethnographic fieldwork and case studies from Asia Pacific and beyond, and spanning various digital platforms, this book looks at the emergence of child influencers and online fame more generally. Crystal Abidin, a pioneering scholar in this field, discusses key historical milestones, scandals, and the social and cultural contexts that have led to ordinary children becoming famous online, and how changing public discourse has resulted in important pivots in the ways we perceive them. The book addresses and challenges some of the moral panics against the visibility of children on social media and gives voice and agency to the children, their parents and guardians, and the agents and managers who have been striving to improve the child influencer market through their everyday practices and community norms.                                                          Child Influencers is illuminating reading for anyone who wants to understand the phenomena of children and online fame, and why they have proliferated so quickly in society.

The face of internet celebrity is rapidly diversifying and evolving. Online and mainstream celebrity culture are now weaving together, such that breakout stars from one-hit viral videos are able to turn their transient fame into a full-time career. This book presents a framework for thinking about the different forms of internet celebrity that have emerged over the last decade, taking examples from the Global North and South, to consolidate key ideas about cultures of online fame. It discusses the overall landscape, developments and trends in the internet celebrity economy, and cross-cultural lessons.

This absorbing anthology uses in-depth interdisciplinary case studies from across the globe to examine the practice and concept of microcelebrity. Expanding on the existing theoretical framing of the online celebrity experience, the editors re-theorize microcelebrity to accommodate developments in global internet governance, the evolution of platform politics, the emergence of hybrid forms of celebrity, and the collapsing networks between old and new media. Chapters analyse experiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia, and consider microcelebrities at all stages of their careers, from everyday users and beginners to veteran influencers. Arguing for new perspectives and theories of microcelebrity that take into account colonial geographies, cross-media networks between influencers and legacy media, and gendered aggression and political discourses in a social media-saturated age, this volume will be of huge value to students and scholars of microcelebrity, social media, digital labour, creative industries and internet culture.

This absorbing anthology uses in-depth interdisciplinary case studies from across the globe to examine the practice and concept of microcelebrity. Expanding on the existing theoretical framing of the online celebrity experience, the editors re-theorize microcelebrity to accommodate developments in global internet governance, the evolution of platform politics, the emergence of hybrid forms of celebrity, and the collapsing networks between old and new media. Chapters analyse experiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia, and consider microcelebrities at all stages of their careers, from everyday users and beginners to veteran influencers. Arguing for new perspectives and theories of microcelebrity that take into account colonial geographies, cross-media networks between influencers and legacy media, and gendered aggression and political discourses in a social media-saturated age, this volume will be of huge value to students and scholars of microcelebrity, social media, digital labour, creative industries and internet culture.

While cohorts of Gen Z have flocked to TikTok, some governments are fighting to have it banned. But where has it come from and what has enabled its incredible market penetration across various countries and demographics?Crystal Abidin draws on original empirical work, news reports, and industry interviews to help readers understand TikTok as it has developed among youth cultures. Using anthropological methods to produce deep and insightful ethnographies about TikTok and its core users, TikTok and Youth Cultures will help readers develop a critical understanding of TikTok’s impact on society, its place in the social media landscape, and its cultural relevance around the world.