Abstract

In the hyper-curated world of social media, influencers aren’t just existing – they are performing. This paper pulls back the curtain on influencer identity, arguing it is less of an authentic reflection of self and more a calculated production shaped by algorithmic pressures, platform cultures and capitalist demands. As influencers hustle for visibility in a saturated market, their personal brands become performances that must be adaptable, highly marketable and carefully staged. Whether polishing their aesthetic for Instagram, performing the latest trends on TikTok or creating vulnerability on YouTube, influencers must constantly shapeshift to survive. Beneath the glassy screens, authenticity becomes a currency in the economy of attention where influencers are forced into lies, hours of unpaid labour and emotional turmoil. This paper reveals influencer identity as a polished and co-authored spectacle monetised by digital capitalism.

Social media has revolutionised how identity is formed, expressed and perceived, with influencer popularity rising as key players in the cultural space of online self-presentation. Unlike traditional celebrities, social media influencers operate within digital offices that demand constant engagement, visibility and personal brand consistency. Their identities do not necessarily reflect who they are; they are carefully created performances shaped by social, technological and economically driven factors. With the rise of influencer culture, questions have emerged surrounding the authenticity of these digital personas and how strategically manipulated they are to achieve success in competitive, algorithm-driven environments. This conference paper argues that influencer identities on social media are not as one may seem or purely authentic but are strategically constructed and frequently reshaped in response to the demands of algorithmic systems, platform-specific norms and the degree of digital labour under capitalism, illustrating how identity online functions as a personal and marketable performance. The conference discussion begins by unpacking the constructed nature of influencer identity, highlighting how influencers consciously create aspects of their lives and personalities to attract new followers and retain loyal ones. It then explores how algorithmic systems influence visibility and engagement, driving influencers to adjust their self-presentation to align with platform preferences in content. The third section investigates the influence of platform-specific norms, where various cultures and affordances across Instagram, TikTok and YouTube shape what kinds of identities are celebrated or not. Finally, the paper turns to the capitalist arrangements behind the scenes of influencer culture, analysing how personal branding becomes a form of labour within the attention economy. Together, these connected pressures reveal that influencer identity is not a simple mirror of the self but a product of performance, adaptation and commercial strategy within a rapidly evolving digital marketplace.

The identities of social media influencers are in question, argued to be strategically curated performances rather than genuine expressions of their authentic selves. Clark (2020) defines identity as an interpretation shaped by social context, which influencers online are intentionally channelling to craft an appealing visual that will attract specific audiences whilst simultaneously meeting platform expectations for engagement. This identity framework is built upon deliberate self-presentation, where influencers selectively post certain aspects of their lives, aesthetics, values and emotions to create a consistent and idolised personal brand. This differs from traditional celebrities, whose identities are often moderated through publicists or mainstream media. At the same time, influencers maintain their image and constantly battle a dilemma between authenticity and marketability, further adding to identity pressures to appear ‘real’ while remaining admirable, creating a contradiction where authenticity becomes a performative and commercialised trait (Smith, 2020). Influencers often engage in what Loh and Walsh (2021) call ‘context collapse’, where they must accommodate diverse audience segments such as friends, fans, brands and strangers, requiring an interchangeable identity that is extremely adaptable. Influencers mould and edit their tone, content and personal lives to align with their audience’s expectations, reducing identity to not a mirror of one’s true self but a managed persona shaped by the context of social media cultures, audience interaction and the commercial ability within platforms. This strategic construction blurs the boundaries between the private and public self, making influencer identity both an act of self-expression and a deliberate self-promotion tool not only managed by the influencer themselves but also associated with the algorithmic systems that manage visibility and engagement on social media platforms, further shaping how influencers present themselves online.

Algorithmic systems shape influencer identities by determining what content is seen, shared and celebrated. On platforms like Instagram and TikTok, algorithms control post visibility and engagement, determining its success (Narayanan, 2023). To win over the platform’s algorithm, influencers must tailor their content and presence to align with the unique and constantly changing criteria that are prioritised, such as high engagement rates, lengthy video watch time or the use of trending audio. This dynamic creates what Elliot (2024) refers to as ‘algorithmic anxiety’, where influencers constantly adjust their content in a way that seeks to appeal to platform preferences while still maintaining relevance. The result is a constant cycle in which influencers will be celebrated by the algorithm for tailing their content behaviours, such as frequent posting, emotional relatability or participation in viral trends. Rather than presenting themselves authentically online, many influencers adopt calculated strategies to maximise algorithmic appeal, virtually co-creating their identity by verifying a machine. The goal of algorithmic visibility can also lead to a feed of uniform content as influencers repeat successful trends or aesthetics, limiting self-expression in online spaces (Ranaivoson, 2019). Additionally, the algorithm centres on certain types of physiques, lifestyles and narratives over others, reinforcing dominance in cultural norms and reducing alternative identities. In light of this, the influencer’s identity is self-constructed through an audience that is aware and algorithmically trained. Algorithmic systems are powerful despite being invisible and act as co-authors of influencer identity. However, the relationship dynamic presents different aspects across various social media platforms, illustrating specific affordances, cultures, and algorithmic frameworks that influence how identities are crafted and perceived.

The performance of influencer identity is shaped not only by individual intention and algorithmic pressures but also by each social media platform’s specific cultural and organisational norms (Arun, 2021). Different platforms promote specific forms of self-presentation, interaction and content production, which creates differing environments in which influencer identities are cultivated. For example, Instagram prioritises consistency and aesthetically pleasing visibility and often promotes inspirational lifestyles and consistency in self-branding. This encourages influencers to maintain a visually attractive feed and carefully refined persona that aligns with the platform’s focus on beauty, luxury and perfection. Opposingly, TikTok favours spontaneous, humorous, and authentic creators, allowing influencers to appear more relatable and unfiltered. The platform’s short-form format and emphasis on trends encourage rapid content creation and participation in viral challenges, shaping identities around humour and even quicker engagement times. YouTube, meanwhile, enables longer-form storytelling and community building, fostering pseudo-relationships that depend on perceived intimacy and vulnerability from influencer to audience (Song & Tang, 2022). These platform-specific affordances, audience demographics, and cultural norms guide what forms of identity are considered acceptable or desirable and are rewarded with a primary spot on the feed. As Dyer and Abidin (2022) state, identity online is heavily compiled by the chosen platform’s architecture, which influences how users interact and what kinds of self-presentation can be performed and monetised. These differing norms mean that influencers must often adapt or manipulate their identities across multiple platforms, tailoring content and performances to meet the expectations and opportunities each one provides. Social media influencer identity is highly flexible and dependent on context, shaped by personal branding goals or algorithms and individual platform abilities, cultures and benefits. This constant adaptation across platforms highlights the effort and the demands of labour within the digital economy, where influencers must continuously perform and produce identity as a form of work under capitalism.

Social media influencers’ revenue transpires from the marketability of their identities and personal branding. Under platform capitalism, influencers are required to perform constant identity labour through crafting, creating and maintaining an online persona that is engaging and monetisable. As Duffy and Sawey (2022) explain, this system of ‘aspirational labour’ is characterised by its unpaid, affective nature, with the hope of eventually receiving recognition, sponsorship, or financial return. Influencers invest significant emotional, physical and creative efforts into building a brand that aligns with market demands, often blurring the boundaries between personal expression and professional commitment. Their identity becomes their labour’s core and essence, where every post, comment or story drives their market value. This commercialisation of self reflects neoliberal objectives in which success is formulated as an individual achievement that depends on influencers being their optimal selves, entrepreneurialism and constant productivity (Carmo et al., 2021). The influencer’s appearance, lifestyle choices and values are transformed into content that is subject to market shifts and audience opinion. The need for social media influencers to remain visible and relevant can lead to burnout, mental health struggles and the decline of personal boundaries and self-care, as influencers must continuously produce an appealing version of themselves for public attention. Brand partnerships and monetisation strategies often dictate what aspects of identity are emphasised or reshaped throughout an influencer’s posts, limiting the authenticity audiences are presumed to witness in their feeds. With this being said, capitalism doesn’t just monetise identity; it structures the conditions under which identity is created, displayed and rewarded for financial and exposure gain. This concludes that influencer identity on social media platforms is not simply just a form of self-expression but a labour-intensive task that reflects and reinforces the economic importance of platform culture.

One might argue that social media influencer identities are not purely performative or strategically constructed but offer genuine and authentic forms of self-expression. From this perspective, social media enables individuals, especially those from marginalised communities, to represent themselves on their terms outside of institutional organisations. Platforms such as TikTok, for example, have been credited for strengthening diverse cultures and narratives, allowing users to develop followings based on authenticity, relatability and lived experience rather than polished branding or corporate sponsorship. While this view highlights the empowering potential of social media, it underestimates the degree to which authenticity has become a marketable product within platform culture. The demand to be ‘authentically relatable’ is often carefully managed and reinforced by platform structures, algorithm visibility and audience expectations. Even expressions of perceived vulnerability or unregulated content are often strategically posted to maintain engagement and emotional resonance with followers. Rather than existing outside of commercialisation, ‘authentic’ influencer identities are still deeply rooted in labour, algorithmic influence and personal branding structures.

Influencer identity on social media is a diverse industry shaped by a collation of strategic self-presentation, technological systems, platform-specific cultures, and capitalist goals. Unlike average civilians, influencer identities are far from being a transparent or true expression of self; their identities are the result of constant negotiation between balancing relatability with inspiration and authenticity with marketability. As this conference paper demonstrates, influencers deliberately craft their online personas to engage specific audiences while navigating the difficult demand to appear ‘real’ yet attractive. This identity work is a strategic act performed within the cultural realms and technological limitations of the platforms they inhabit. Algorithmic systems further complicate this performance, serving as invisible but powerful forces that reward certain behaviours, aesthetics and narratives while limiting exposure to others. Influencers must continuously adapt their content to appeal to platform algorithms, resulting in a form of identity co-authored by machine preferences. Meanwhile, the distinct cultures and affordances of platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube regulate different identity norms, prompting influencers to modify their personas based on where and how they engage their audiences. Throughout all of this is the labour of identity that influencers are relentlessly forming, self-branding driven by the objectives and rules of platform capitalism. Influencers do not just perform as themselves; they exaggerate their lives, emotions and values in pursuit of attention and monetisation. This aspirational labour, often unpaid and emotionally debilitating, highlights the broader neoliberal ideal in which success is individual and dependent on online visibility and productivity. Finally, influencer identity on social media is a labour-intensive, algorithmically favoured and commercially incentivised performance. It exists at the crossroads of personal expression and financial strategy, revealing how identity in the digital age is shaped by the systems and structures that supervise online life.

References

Arun, C. (2021). Making choices: Social media platforms and freedom of expression norms. In A. Callamard & L. Bollinger (Eds.), Regardless of Frontiers: Global Freedom of Expression in a Troubled World (pp. 275–287). Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/boll19698-015

Carmo, L. J. O., Assis, L. B., Gomes Júnior, A. B., & Teixeira, M. B. M. (2021). Entrepreneurship as a neoliberal ideology. Cadernos, 19(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1590/1679-395120200010

Clark, B. (2020). Identity inferences: Implicatures, implications and extended interpretations. Language and Literature, 29(4), 424–445. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963947020969568

Duffy, B. E., & Sawey, M. (2022). In/visibility in social media work: The hidden labor behind the brands. Media and Communication, 10(1), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i1.4460

Dyer, H. T., & Abidin, C. (2022). Understanding identity and platform cultures. The SAGE Handbook of Digital Society (pp. 170–187). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526499879.n10

Elliott, A. (2024). Algorithms of Anxiety: Fear in the Digital Age. John Wiley & Sons. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Algorithms%2Bof%2BAnxiety%3A%2BFear%2Bin%2Bthe%2BDigital%2BAge-p-00421678

Loh, J., & Walsh, M. J. (2021). Social media context collapse: The consequential differences between context collusion versus context collision. Social Media + Society, 7(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051211041646

Narayanan, A. (2023). Understanding social media recommendation algorithms. Columbia University Academic Commons. https://doi.org/10.7916/khdk-m460

Ranaivoson, H. (2019). Online platforms and cultural diversity in the audiovisual sectors: A combined look at concentration and algorithms. Audio-Visual Industries and Diversity: Economics and Policies in the Digital Era (pp. 100–118). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429427534-6

Smith, C. H. (2020). Corporatised identities ≠ digital identities: Algorithmic filtering on social media and the commercialisation of presentations of self. In C. Burr & L. Floridi (Eds.), Ethics of Digital Well-Being: A Multidisciplinary Approach (pp. 55–80). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50585-1_3

Song, J., & Tang, X. (2022). Research on fan identity behavior from the perspective of pseudo-social relationship. Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 4(3), 305–312. https://doi.org/10.31058/j.jhsr.2022.43023