Follow Me: Influencers, Platforms, and the Rise of the Follower Economy
Angèle Christin, Stanford University
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Who are social media influencers, and how do their careers and revenues shape the kind of content we see online? I present an ethnographic study of content creators on social media platforms, which draws on cases ranging from vegan YouTubers to “dad” influencers and influencer marketers. Based on this material, I show how structural forces reproduce precarity as well as gender and racial inequality in social media careers, while also nudging influencers toward interpersonal “drama” and sometimes the production of problematic content. Moving beyond the case of influencers, I develop the concept of the "follower economy" to explain these transformations in how we communicate and present ourselves offline.

Angèle Christin is an associate professor in the Department of Communication and the faculty director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University. She studies how algorithms and analytics transform professional values, expertise, and work practices.