The Economic Precarity of the Influencer Industry

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I think that change has to come at multiple levels, you know. People need to have a better understanding of the context when they are viewing an influencer's content. Are we going to shepherd this industry into a more sort of professionalized, organized future where we kind of sort of shape the industry like many other cultural industries? Or are we going to continue to just try to ... make sure our business doesn't fail and turn a blind eye to the problems of the space?"

Paris Marx is joined by Emily Hund to discuss the creation of the influencer industry, how it’s been formalized by companies who profit from it, and what can be done to make it fairer for the people who work in it.

Emily Hund is the author of The Influencer Industry: The Quest for Authenticity on Social Media. She’s also a research affiliate at the Center on Digital Culture and Society at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Follow Emily on Twitter at @emilyadh.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Follow the podcast (@techwontsaveus) and host Paris Marx (@parismarx) on Twitter, and support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham and part of the Harbinger Media Network.

Also mentioned in this episode:

An excerpt of Emily’s book was published in Wired.
After Elon Musk took over Twitter, a menswear account was suddenly in everyone’s feeds.
Instagram is offering a paid subscription service that includes customer service.
Countries have begun regulating the influencer industry. For example, Norway requires retouched photos to be labeled, while France has an even stricter law that regulates the types of products that can be promoted along with other requirements.

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