Self-Presenting Virtually for Remote Social Influence: Peer Lessons About Social Following and Being Followed

Introduction

Research from biological, historical, psychological, and other disciplines suggests that people are social creatures who generally fall in line behind the leadership of “alphas.” The traditional social structures that people create tend to be hierarchical. Even in the social networks that are supposedly less stratified and more democratic, there are individual nodes (egos), motifs (small groups), and larger sub-networks (entities) that have outsized influence on those around them (ego neighborhoods) and beyond. A form of “alphas” on the Web 2.0 are “social influencers,” those who inspire and lead their followers in particular aspirations and endeavors, with positive and negative effects. “Social influence” is generally thought of as affecting others to be like the self through various types of social reproduction with others with whom one is in relationship. Different fields like psychology and the information sciences have different definitions of “influence.” Social influencers are also known as “opinion leaders” or “anyone whose voice is strongly regarded in the media” (De Las Heras, Jan. 2019, p. 6). Social influencers are known by a variety of descriptors: “human brands attaching to followers” (Ki, Cuevas, Chong, & Lim, 2020, p. 1); “popular social network users” (Lutu, 2019, p. 155); “astonishing beings” who “oscillate between intimacy and publicity, authenticity and commercialization, ingratiation and critical distance” (Borchers, 2019, p. 255); “boundary crossers” in their mixed strategic communications skills (Borchers, 2019, p. 256); and “a new type of independent, third-party endorser” who can “shape an audience’s attitudes through blogs, tweets, and use of other social media channels (Freberg, et al., 2010, as cited in Glucksman, 2017, p. 78). Social media influencers may be seen as “gateways” or “key players controlling the bottlenecks of influence propagation” (Li, Lin, & Shan, 2011, p. 75); as gatekeepers, they control and mediate the spread of information. In part, social influencers can get past the ad blocking technologies used by many (Zietek, 2016, p. 1). The messaging of social influencers is often considered a form of “native advertising” through peer word-of-mouth (Bannigan & Shane, 2019, p. 248). It is more homegrown and less commercially slick. Those in the younger demographics focused more on social media and not watching as much television, so going with social influencer marketing is about meeting the consumers where they are. (Meyers, 2017, p. 1)