Are we all influencers now?

One researcher argues that to some degree, we are. The influencer industry — it really is a business at this point — has fundamentally changed the way we view and interact with each other on social media. No longer are we documenting our lives for posterity, we’re continuously marketing ourselves for some unknowable audience. There were many factors that got us to this place. In her interview with Emily Hund, the author of [The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media](, Rebecca Jennings outlines the path toward mass influencer saturation, from the Great Recession to fashion bloggers to the rise of TikTok. If you never thought seriously about influencers, well, it’s time you started. �€“Allie Volpe, senior reporter   How the Great Recession paved the way for influencers to inherit the earth [A young Black woman holds a smartphone at arm's length, taking a photo of herself.]( Getty Images/iStockphoto It was when I was researching a story on [micro-famous LinkedIn users]( that I realized there truly was no escape from the influencer industry. If business bros with corporate jobs in tech and finance — stable, high-paying careers with cushy benefits! — felt the need to supplement their status (and possibly their income) by becoming influencers, what hope was there for the rest of us? In truth, I should have realized this a long time ago. In an increasingly [unpredictable economy](, one with [massive wealth disparity]( and [mass layoffs](, where landing a solid career path feels out of reach for so many, of course the industry that promises self-employment and creative freedom sounds like the best possible option. The first inkling that the influencer industry would become a very big deal occurred during a different period of economic precarity. In her new book, [The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media](, Emily Hund, a researcher at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, analyzes how in the wake of the Great Recession, starting in late 2007, individual bloggers charted a new path to financial and social fulfillment, and launched an entirely new cottage industry that would threaten the institutions it circumvented. “While individual participants looked for a route to autonomy, stability, and professional fulfillment that seemed impossible elsewhere, they ended up creating a value system that advanced the erosion of boundaries between individuals’ inner lives and commercialism, asking us to view ourselves as products perpetually ready for market, our relationships as monetizable, and our daily activities as potential shopping experiences,” Hund writes. “Influencers are neither ‘a flash in the pan’ nor ‘a bubble about to burst,’ but indicators of a paradigm shift in the way we think about each other and ourselves.” I spoke to Hund about her book, where we discussed the past, present, and future of this paradigm shift and its effects on what we buy, post, and think. The following interview has been edited and condensed. [Read the full story »](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( America's school lunch crisis A federal program allowed schools to provide free lunch to all children. Why did it have to end? [Read the full story »](   Black teen girls are the curators of culture Fashion, music, and internet memes all owe a debt to young Black women. [Read the full story »](   Support our work We aim to explain what we buy, why we buy it, and why it matters. Support our mission by making a gift today. [Give](   More good stuff to read today - [Party Down's new season says hustle culture is a scam]( - [Money Talks: The identical twins running a hometown business]( - [Tax pro-approved tips to make filing (a little) easier]( - [The surprising lesson from a century of Oscar scandals]( - [Consumers are reaching a breaking point](  [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Manage your [email preferences]( or [unsubscribe](param=goods). If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved.