Influencer Culture and the Commodification of Individuals in the Age of Social Media: A Qualitative Study on Communication Students

Abstract

With the rise of digital media, the concept of opinion leadership has undergone a radical transformation, with forms of influence based on expertise and authority in traditional media environments giving way to a regime of influence based on visibility and emotional performance on social media platforms. This study aims to understand the perceptions, attitudes, and critiques of young individuals, particularly communication faculty students, towards social media influencers. Participants' relationship with influencer culture is evaluated not only as a career aspiration but also as a multi-layered practice of subjectification interwoven with economic opportunities, emotional fulfillment, identity construction, and the desire for visibility. The background section of the study discusses the historical and cultural origins of the influencer figure and examines how social media has created a new regime of opinion leadership by blurring the boundaries between mass and interpersonal communication. In the methodology section, thematic analysis was applied to 30 in-depth interviews conducted with final-year communication faculty students, and five main themes related to user experiences were identified: (1) The concept of influencer and its perceived boundaries, (2) the objectification of education and the normalization of pragmatism, (3) self-presentation and the commodification of the individual, (4) the commercialization of ındirect experience and (5) postmodern catharsis. Analyses based on these themes revealed that young people both admire and critically distance themselves from the influencer figure; influencer culture offers attractive privileges and opportunities on the one hand, while creating ethical flexibility, identity tension, and visibility pressure on the other. Consequently, the study argues that influencer culture is not merely an individual career choice but also a new form of social representation that internalizes the emotional, ethical, and ideological effects of neoliberal digital culture. The relationship participants establish with this form of representation points to a contradictory form of subjectification: it is both desired and questioned; both internalized and criticized. These findings offer important insights into understanding the digital identity strategies of the younger generation, the regime of visibility, and the ethical boundaries of the influencer ecosystem.