Abstract

This conference paper scrutinises the influence of social media and the ascension of online influencers facilitated by algorithms, with a specific focus on the social media platform Tik Tok. TikTok has recently emerged as one of the most prominent social media platforms, and this paper discusses how its algorithm has enabled influencers to effectively target audiences and create a devoted community. Additionally, this essay investigates the utilization of hashtags on social media, which has bolstered the continuing growth of social movements and enabled individuals with shared beliefs to experience a greater sense of connectedness. By examining the cases of Tess Holliday and the Black Lives Matter movement, the essay illustrates how social media influencers have significantly contributed to the formation of communities and the exploration of novel concepts.

 

Introduction

Throughout recent years, the term community has developed from a word used to describe a tight-knit group where everyone was acquainted through a specific topic, to a vast, varied, and widely dispersed group of people. The development of the term community has been incredibly influenced by social media and the ever-rising popularity of specific social sites, specifically TikTok. Online influencers have led social media users to discover new interests and groups of friends through effectively harnessing TikTok’s algorithm and through hashtags and strategic targeting, leading people with similar interests form together that is not restrained by distance or region. The effective use of TikTok’s algorithm by social media influencers enables them to create engaging content, target specific audiences using hashtags, and collaborate with others, resulting in the formation of a like-minded community that is loyal to the influencer’s brand. On a variety of social media platforms, including TikTok, social media influencers are growing in popularity. Since TikTok’s algorithm prioritises videos with high engagement rates, it is more probable for a video to be seen by a broader audience if it obtains a lot of likes, comments, and shares. This algorithm is especially good at promoting material that connects with a certain demographic, which makes it the perfect platform for influencers trying to build a community of people who share their interests. The development of interesting content is the first step in social media influencers using TikTok’s algorithm effectively to gain a traction and effectively harness a like-minded community.

 

The Effect of Hashtags

TikTok is one of the most popular social media websites now, if not the most popular. The already popular lip-synching app musical.ly was combined with TikTok in 2018, and the app quickly gained popularity, overtaking Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube to become the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in the first quarter of 2018. “Since its release in 2016, the video-sharing platform TikTok has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity: as of February 2021, it has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times worldwide” (TikTok Statistics, 2021). Algorithm has been described as “encoded procedures for transforming input data into the desired output, based on specified calculations” by author Gillespie, (2014). First off, based on users’ past interactions and activity on the platform, TikTok’s algorithm is made to display content that they are interested in. This implies that the algorithm will recognise when influencers publish material that connects with their target audience and will expose it to more individuals who are likely to engage with it. Second, the algorithm behind TikTok rewards content producers who consistently make high-quality content. The takeaway from this is that influencers who can provide interesting and engaging material that is relevant to their audience have a higher chance of gaining followers and becoming recognised as thought leaders in their industry.

Social media hashtags are keywords or phrases that are preceded by the pound or hash symbol (#) and are used to categorize and organize content on social media platforms. When a user includes a hashtag in their post, it becomes clickable and searchable, allowing other users to easily discover and explore content related to that hashtag. “A good example of this are hashtags like #vegan, #FIFAcup2014 and #LinkinPark that provide a plethora of shared experiences and opinions on the relevant topics” (Laucuka, 2018). An example of an influencer who has helped build an online community for the better, is Tess Holliday, a plus-size American model, as well as a blogger, with a following of 2.6 million. She is also one of the most well-known plus-size advocates for body positivity. “Tess Holliday, founded the @effyourbeautystandards Instagram account which launched the campaign #effyourbeautystandards in response to messages across the media telling women that they are not beautiful if they are above a size 10.” (Cwnar-Horta, 2016). The hashtag originated on the Instagram platform and is presently being employed by individuals on TikTok who espouse the campaign’s ideology. The utilisation of hashtags has facilitated the continuous expansion of a social movement initiated in 2013, highlighting the potential of self-presentation to serve as a positive exemplar for individuals and stimulate online discourse, ultimately fostering a sense of community among individuals who share similar values.

 

“The exponential growth of social media has given rise to so-called “microcelebrities,” such as bloggers or vloggers who have gained fame on social media through self-branding” ((Khamis & Welling, 2017). Using hashtags and deliberate targeting, social media users and online influencers have undoubtedly contributed significantly to the creation of communities and the discovery of new interests. Hashtags are a powerful tool, an influences main aim when creating content, is to attract a niche audience who they can interact with and gain traction from. For instance, a lot of social media influencers spoke about significant world problems on their platforms. The Black Lives Matter campaign is one of them. The Black Lives Matter hashtag came about in 2014, “and with continued police brutality and the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many more, the need for change was as pressing as ever.” (Olson, 2021). Using the #BLM hashtag to spread the word on social media showed that a wide variety of people, including leaders, supporters, celebrities, and social media influencers, were behind the Black Lives Matter movement. These arrays of people expressed their support and denounced racial injustice and police brutality on social media platforms. To spread their message and increase awareness of the problems affecting those involved and personally affected by the issues, users of social media made use of a variety of content types, including pictures, videos, and hashtags to promote the BLM movement. People from many different backgrounds who had not previously felt connected to the cause came together as a community as a consequence of widespread outrage. “The accessibility of social media allows groups to take on the mantle of social movements without direct connections to movement activity or leadership” (Mundt et al 2018). If it wasn’t for social media this issue would certainly not be as popular as it is today.

 

The Importance of an Influencer’s Self-Presentation

“Social media influencers attempt to impact all areas of their target audiences’ lives. Examples include, encouraging people to buy or use a particular product/service, using their influence to change habits, attitudes and behaviors including food consumption, lifestyle choices and even how a target audience communicate and the language they use” (de Castro, 2021). Social media influencers can attract a community through the content they release for others to view. Influencers are able to share their workout regimens, food plans, and inspirational content on their social media accounts to encourage active living and healthy eating.Through TikTok’s algorithm, an individual that values a healthy lifestyle is going to receive videos relating to gym content, healthy recipes and more. An influencer who optimizes their content for a specific audience, they are engaging in strategies of self-presentation or impression management to cultivate a certain persona and create a networked self. The use of social media as a tool for presenting oneself and shaping one’s image to a specific audience is a key aspect of impression management and the creation of a networked self. As previously mentioned, TikTok, uses social media algorithms to assist in promoting certain content, such as articles on fitness or healthy living. After a user has actively searched for this specific content, the algorithm is more likely to present users with information frequently, including content from influencers that promote these themes. Once a social media user has found these videos that they like, that’s where they start to connect with those around them who are interested in the same content. This is where friendships can be formed, not only with the users who share the same interests, but with the creators who produce the content as well.

 

“Personal branding has evolved, which can be attributed to the proliferation of computer-mediated communication and the rise of social media that have afforded people the ability to use the internet to create and foster self-presentations” (Albright & Simmens, 2014). Personal branding has been mastered by social media influencers. They employ a variety of tactics to develop a following and position themselves as experts in their respective fields. Influencers can self-brand themselves in order to gain a following and form a community within their niche audience through a variety of ways. Firstly, uniqueness is vital for an influencer to make their content easily recognisable to their followers. Influencers may employ a similar colour scheme, topic, typeface, and style to establish a unified visual identity that aids in building a rapport with viewers. “When consumers interact with brands, they are exposed to visual stimuli such as logos, colours, shapes, typefaces, characters, styles, and other brand-image elements” (McQuarrie, Phillips, 2014). ach of these visual components might develop a connection to the identity and brand of a specific person or business. Authenticity and transparency are vital for influences to perceive considering this builds a trust and community on a deeper level. For social media influencers to remain successful and continue to make money from sponsored content and partnerships, they rely on the loyalty and trust of their following. Influencers must therefore appear genuine and open to their followers to succeed. By coming across as a genuine and real person, this helps develop a devoted following of people, increased engagement, more solid connections, and a better reputation. After an influencer gains this trust and reliability among their followers, it helps an influencer lessen the negative feedback they receive in the case that they make a mistake, such as endorsing a product that falls short of expectations. The followers value openness and truthfulness, this means there is a high chance that they are more inclined to overlook a mistake and move on if they believe the influencer to be sincere.

 

“A niche is a specialized subset of a larger set, so a niche social network is one that targets a select segment of the general population” (Ronca, 2009). Influencers create educational, practical, and entertaining material to position themselves as authorities in a given sector. They establish themselves as a go-to resource for knowledge for their fans by regularly sharing content pertinent to their niche. Social media creators can form these niches through collaborations with other influences, where they can cross-promote their content to reach another audience in the hopes of gaining a larger following. Sponsored posts also have an impact on an influences self-branding tactic as influencers work with clients to create sponsored pieces that are specific to their target audience. A potential example of a collaboration between a skincare and makeup company and a beauty influencer could be a sponsored post, as demonstrated by ‘The Ordinary’ company. This collaboration “recorded over 52,000 product sales, a 426% boost” (Gamble, 2022), following the endorsement by Kaelyn White, a popular TikTok star, who shared her experience of reduced acne after using one of the company’s products.

 

This helps an influence develop themselves as tastemakers in their field by endorsing goods they firmly believe in and those their audience will find appealing. To effectively engage with their audience, influencers are required to maintain a consistent and active online presence, using their TikTok popularity, which employs algorithms to categorise and promote content within specific niches on their “For You” page. By answering emails, direct messages, and comments, this builds a loyal following who are more likely to continue engaging with their content. Influencers can receive useful feedback on their content, goods, and services by engaging with their audience. They can adjust and better customise their material to their audience’s needs and interests by paying attention to their followers’ feedback and ideas. Through an audience finding their preferred influencer to watch and follow, a community if formed and becomes a powerful platform for the influencer’s brand, resulting in increased visibility and revenue opportunities.

 

Conclusion

The internet and social media have completely changed how we interact with one another and have created an online community by removing geographical restrictions and giving people a forum to exchange thoughts and experiences with people across the world. Social media influences have effectively harnessed TikTok’s algorithm to form a like-minded community.  Influencers have used hashtags effectively to reach a specific audience on TikTok. Hashtags are not only employed to classify content on TikTok and simplify the process of discovering relevant videos for users, but they are also utilised by influencers to advocate for and promote campaigns they are passionate about, such as Tess Holliday’s efforts to promote body positivity for plus-sized women. Influencers possess the ability to generate content that effectively connects with their audience, which renders them influential figures on social media. Brands can utilise this characteristic to communicate their messages to their desired audience, and in doing so, further enhance the self-presentation of the influencer, illuminating their values and beliefs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

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