Blog post #3: Kaileigh Klein
Social media has become an important part of social life and with this it has become a job for some individuals known as “influencer marketing”. People can now use platforms such as Instagram and YouTube to reshape consumer behavior. This connects to the course when looking at Baym’s notion of “mass self-communication” as creators have interactive relationships with brands and their own audiences. Standage also discusses the idea of social media as “sharing media” which ends up blurring the lines between what consumption and creation actually is. Many videos now are “sponsored” videos, where the creative aspect is affected by needing to influence the audience to buy a certain product. Standage states that “Users of such sites more than passively consume information, in other words: they can also create it, comment on it, share it, discuss it and even modify it”. No one is simply watching videos, they are consuming information that allows them to want to purchase the items, discuss the products and share the videos with the sponsored content. Overall, this shows how influencer marketing connects social practices, technology and culture in order to reshape consumer behavior.
Hi Kaileigh, influencer marketing definitely showcases social media's power in reshaping consumer behaviour. Baym's "mass self-communication" is evident as creators engage with audiences and brands. Standage's idea of social media as "sharing media" blurs consumption and creation boundaries. Sponsored content highlights active user involvement beyond passive consumption, influencing consumer behaviour through social, technological, and cultural integration. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHey Kaileigh, very good job with your post! I enjoyed reading it and I think that influencer marketing was an interesting and engaging choice for a topic! Nowadays, I feel like every influencers post is sponsored, whether they state it or not. One thing about this topic that I find particularly interesting is how easy it is for an influencer to promote a product and give inaccurate positive reviews about it, just so that they can get paid for their promotion. One example I've seen a lot of influencers promoting is the online therapy "Better Help." Although I've seen many influencers talking about how much it has helped them, the reviews online say otherwise. Great job!
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