Joseph Godefroy, sociologist, is an expert on subjects related to influence, to which he devoted a thesis focused on influencers in the world of fitness and food.
You have spent several years examining the daily lives of influencers. What struck you the most?
I was struck by the representation of bodies, often staged by the influencers themselves, who gradually understand, without the brands explicitly asking them, that certain parts of their body and certain postures allow them to obtain a more great engagement on their content. There is a whole economy behind these representations. More generally, Instagram influencers learn and internalize the elements necessary for their commodification.
However, influencers are not supposed to go too far…
This is the ambiguity of the approach, also linked to the porosity of the spaces of expression on the platforms. Brands use influencers to humanize and embody their advertising message… But they must not appear as salespeople or salespeople, otherwise their audience risks stopping following them. Here, influencers are individuals who benefit from strong online visibility to which brands associate potential influence. In return, the influencer benefits from symbolic benefits such as increased recognition, even greater visibility and, often, material rewards or even privileged access to certain events.
In your writings, where you frequently cite Instagram, you recall a date: March 2016, the moment when it became, you say, an openly “commercial” platform…
Indeed, during this second period, where advertising gradually mixes with the distribution of personal content online, the possibility for companies to directly identify the products they market on Instagram marks a turning point in the history of platform.
That’s to say ?
It is no longer just a question of advertisers occupying a marginal space on Instagram, like the advertising banners present on other websites. This time, companies have the possibility of sending Instagram users directly to their commercial site, while using the codes adopted by more personal publications, then at the heart of the content distributed on Instagram. This content thus contributes to the confusion of advertising and personal issues, with the emergence of users whose discourse seems to borrow features of both authenticity and advertising.
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